Spatial profiling of Kawasaki disease cardiac inflammation identifies STING as a therapeutic target
Abstract
The cellular subsets and in situ mechanisms underlying the development of coronary arteritis in Kawasaki disease (KD), the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children, remain poorly defined. We characterized the cellular composition and spatial organization of cardiac inflammation in autopsy coronary artery (CA) specimens from KD patients using 64-plex immunofluorescence. We identified spatially organized immune infiltrates of neutrophils, macrophages, and T cells associated with arterial wall destruction and remodeling, as well as disrupted stromal/muscle cell colocalization and diffuse myocardial inflammation. Spatial analysis also revealed expression of the innate immune sensor STING in myeloid cells in KD CA tissues. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of STING reduced vasculitis development in a mouse model of KD. These findings define the spatial immune architecture of KD cardiac inflammation, reveal inflammatory injury beyond the coronary arteries, and identify STING as a potential therapeutic target for treatment-resistant or severe KD.
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BibTeX
@misc{ross2026spatial,
title = {{Spatial profiling of Kawasaki disease cardiac inflammation identifies STING as a therapeutic target}},
author = {Benjamin L. Ross and Asli E. Atici and Youngho Lee and Paul Ngai and Emily Schahrer and Malcolm E. Lane and Michael F. Fishbein and Yuki Yokouchi and Kei Takahashi and Moshe Arditi and David Zemmour and Magali Noval Rivas},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.16.757759},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.16.757759v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Spatial profiling of Kawasaki disease cardiac inflammation identifies STING as a therapeutic target
AU - Benjamin L. Ross
AU - Asli E. Atici
AU - Youngho Lee
AU - Paul Ngai
AU - Emily Schahrer
AU - Malcolm E. Lane
AU - Michael F. Fishbein
AU - Yuki Yokouchi
AU - Kei Takahashi
AU - Moshe Arditi
AU - David Zemmour
AU - Magali Noval Rivas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.16.757759
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.16.757759v1
AB - The cellular subsets and in situ mechanisms underlying the development of coronary arteritis in Kawasaki disease (KD), the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children, remain poorly defined. We characterized the cellular composition and spatial organization of cardiac inflammation in autopsy coronary artery (CA) specimens from KD patients using 64-plex immunofluorescence. We identified spatially organized immune infiltrates of neutrophils, macrophages, and T cells associated with arterial wall destruction and remodeling, as well as disrupted stromal/muscle cell colocalization and diffuse myocardial inflammation. Spatial analysis also revealed expression of the innate immune sensor STING in myeloid cells in KD CA tissues. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of STING reduced vasculitis development in a mouse model of KD. These findings define the spatial immune architecture of KD cardiac inflammation, reveal inflammatory injury beyond the coronary arteries, and identify STING as a potential therapeutic target for treatment-resistant or severe KD.
SN - 2692-8205
ER -