Multiomic analysis reveals cellular and epigenetic plasticity in intestinal pouches of ulcerative colitis patients [scRNA-seq]

Total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) is the standard treatment for patients with severe treatment resistant ulcerative colitis (UC). Despite significant improvements in patient outcomes, up to 50% of patients will develop inflammation of the pouch (pouchitis) within 1-2 years following surgery. The pathogenesis of pouchitis is not well understood. Functionalization of UC pouches is associated with histological changes, whether these reflect changes in cellular identity and metaplasia remains unclear. To address this question, we generated cellular atlases of single-cell transcriptomes and accessible chromatin to assess the cellular composition, transcriptomic and epigenetic profiles in UC pouches. We obtained scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq data from paired biopsy samples from the ileal pouch and ileal segment above the pouch (prepouch) of UC-IPAA patients (n=6) without symptoms.