Bronchopulmonary dysplasia with pulmonary hypertension associates with semaphorin signaling loss and functionally decreased FOXF1 expression

Lung injury in preterm infants leads to structural and functional respiratory deficits, with a risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) that in its most severe form is accompanied by pulmonary hypertension (PH). To identify potential cellular and molecular drivers of BPD in humans, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of preterm infant lungs with evolving BPD and BPD + PH compared to term infants. Examination of endothelial cells reveals a unique, aberrant capillary cell-state in BPD + PH defined by ANKRD1 expression. Within the alveolar parenchyma in infants with BPD/BPD + PH, predictive signaling analysis identifies surprising deficits in the semaphorin guidance-cue pathway, with decreased expression of pro-angiogenic transcription factor FOXF1. Loss of semaphorin signaling is replicated in a murine BPD model and in humans with causal FOXF1 mutations for alveolar capillary dysplasia (ACDMPV), suggesting a mechanistic link between developmental programs underlying BPD and ACDMPV and uncovering a critical role for semaphorin signaling in normal lung development.