Underrepresentation of activating KIR gene expression in single-cell RNA-seq data is due to KIR gene misassignment

Eur J Immunol. 2024 Jan;54(1):e2350590. doi: 10.1002/eji.202350590. Epub 2023 Nov 20.

Abstract

Standard single-cell RNA-sequencing alignment pipelines exhibit a propensity for misassigning killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) transcripts, thereby giving rise to inaccuracies in quantifying KIR expression. Alves et al. elucidated that these default workflows frequently misclassify activating KIR transcripts as inhibitory KIR expression, resulting in a skewed representation of the KIR repertoire.

MeSH terms

  • Gene Expression
  • Genotype
  • Killer Cells, Natural* / metabolism
  • Receptors, KIR / genetics
  • Receptors, KIR / metabolism
  • Single-Cell Gene Expression Analysis*

Substances

  • Receptors, KIR