Single-cell sequencing shows cellular heterogeneity of cutaneous lesions in lupus erythematosus

Meiling Zheng; Zhi Hu; Xiaole Mei; Lianlian Ouyang; Yang Song; Wenhui Zhou; Yi Kong; Ruifang Wu; Shijia Rao; Hai Long; Wei Shi; Hui Jing; Shuang Lu; Haijing Wu; Sujie Jia; Qianjin Lu; Ming Zhao

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35209-1

Single-cell sequencing shows cellular heterogeneity of cutaneous lesions in lupus erythematosus

Nat Commun. 2022 Dec 5;13(1):7489. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35209-1.

Authors

Meiling Zheng^#^{1

2}, Zhi Hu^#^{1

2}, Xiaole Mei^#³, Lianlian Ouyang^#^{1

2}, Yang Song^#^{1

2}, Wenhui Zhou^{1

2}, Yi Kong^{1

2}, Ruifang Wu^{1

2}, Shijia Rao^{1

2}, Hai Long^{1

2}, Wei Shi⁴, Hui Jing^{1

2}, Shuang Lu^{1

2}, Haijing Wu^{1

2}, Sujie Jia⁵, Qianjin Lu^{6

7

8}, Ming Zhao^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenomics, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China.
² Research Unit of Key Technologies of Diagnosis and Treatment for Immune-related Skin Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 410011, Changsha, China.
³ Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 210042, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410008, Changsha, China.
⁵ Department of Pharmacy, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China.
⁶ Department of Dermatology, Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenomics, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China. qianlu5860@pumcderm.cams.cn.
⁷ Research Unit of Key Technologies of Diagnosis and Treatment for Immune-related Skin Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 410011, Changsha, China. qianlu5860@pumcderm.cams.cn.
⁸ Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 210042, Nanjing, China. qianlu5860@pumcderm.cams.cn.
⁹ Department of Dermatology, Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenomics, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China. zhaoming307@csu.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Research Unit of Key Technologies of Diagnosis and Treatment for Immune-related Skin Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 410011, Changsha, China. zhaoming307@csu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are both types of lupus, yet the characteristics, and differences between them are not fully understood. Here we show single-cell RNA sequencing data of cutaneous lesions from DLE and SLE patients and skin tissues from healthy controls (HCs). We find significantly higher proportions of T cells, B cells and NK cells in DLE than in SLE. Expanded CCL20⁺ keratinocyte, CXCL1⁺ fibroblast, ISG^hiCD4/CD8 T cell, ISG^hi plasma cell, pDC, and NK subclusters are identified in DLE and SLE compared to HC. In addition, we observe higher cell communication scores between cell types such as fibroblasts and macrophage/dendritic cells in cutaneous lesions of DLE and SLE compared to HC. In summary, we clarify the heterogeneous characteristics in cutaneous lesions between DLE and SLE, and discover some specific cell subtypes and ligand-receptor pairs that indicate possible therapeutic targets of lupus erythematosus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
Humans
Lupus Erythematosus, Discoid* / genetics
Lupus Erythematosus, Discoid* / metabolism
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* / genetics
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* / metabolism
Skin / metabolism