Spatial transcriptomics of Cutaneous and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus skin

We performed spatial transcriptomics on a case series of different clinical subtypes of cutaneous lupus erythematosus including acute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (malar rash, systemic lupus erythematosus). Our goals were to (1) determine which differentially expressed genes (DEGs) could be attributed to specific cell populations in specific locations within the tissue, (2) determine if spatial transcriptomics could better distinguish between CLE clinical subtypes than bulk RNA approaches and (3) examine potential cell-cell communication pathways within the skin lesions. NanoString Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP) with Whole Transcriptome Atlas (WTA) was performed on 4 chronic/discoid lupus erythematosus (CCLE/DLE), 3 subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) and 3 acute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (ACLE/SLE) patient skin biopsies compared to 3 healthy controls (skin cancer excision healthy/clear margins).