Single-Cell transcriptional profiling reveals immune dysregulation and abnormal immune-inflammatory communications between immune and retinal cells in uveitis

Uveitis is an immune-inflammatory disease that can cause blindness. However, little is known about a comprehensive atlas of the ocular cellular and inflammatory components in uveitis. Here, single-cell RNA sequencing was performed to construct a transcriptomic atlas of ocular cells from experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) and control mice to identify disease- associated immune cell subsets and molecules. We reveal 15 cell types in eyes and found an a-Synuclein positive microglia subset and plasma cell subset with high level of cytokines. The heterogeneous plasma cells subsets communicated with DC, T cells and retinal cells via various cytokines and molecular pairing. The G protein Rab1A participated in the inflammatory response of plasma cells. Altogether, we revealed the heterogeneous inflammatory genes, EAU-specific immune cell populations, and dysregulated communications of immune and retinal cells in EAU. This result provides a systematic view of the transcriptional map of uveitis and a foundation for studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms and pathogenesis of this disease. Overall design: Eye tissues from 15 EAU mice (after immunization for 16 days) vs eye tissues from 15 Control mice. Eye tissues of each 15 mice were combined into one sample.