Gene-regulatory network analysis of systemic lupus erythermatosus with a single-cell chromatin accessible assay

Systemic lupus erythermatosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease, and epigenetic study is promissing for illustrating the mechanisms of SLE pathogenesis. Assay for transposase accessible chromatin in single cells sequencing (scATAC-seq) shows priority to trackle this barrier. Thus, scATAC-seq was applied to difine the landscape of active regulatory DNA in systemic lupus erythermatosus (SLE) at single cell resolusion. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were robustly clustered based on their types without using antibodies. 20 patterns of transcription factor (TF) activation that drive abnormal immune response in SLE patients were identified. Meaniwhile, 10 genes associated with SLE pathogenesis that alter T cell activity and 52 significantly enriched TF motifs in SLE patients were revealed. These results reveal candidate makers in SLE-PBMC, showing feasibility for epigenetic therapy, and providing a foundational insights on epigenetic therapy. Single-cell chromatin accessibility (scATAC) profiles of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in systemic lupus erythermatosus