Single-cell RNA sequencing of peripheral blood links cell-type-specific regulation of splicing to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

Authors

Chi Tian, National University of Singapore
Yuntian Zhang, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Yihan Tong, National University of Singapore
Kian Hong Kock, A-Star, Genome Institute of Singapore
Donald Yuhui Sim, School of Biological Sciences
Fei Liu, National University of Singapore
Jiaqi Dong, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Zhixuan Jing, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Wenjing Wang, National University of Singapore
Junbin Gao, National University of Singapore
Le Min Tan, A-Star, Genome Institute of Singapore
Kyung Yeon Han, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan university
Yoshihiko Tomofuji, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Masahiro Nakano, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Eliora Violain Buyamin, A-Star, Genome Institute of Singapore
Radhika Sonthalia, A-Star, Genome Institute of Singapore
Yoshinari Ando, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Hiroaki Hatano, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Kyuto Sonehara, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Jonathan Moody, Hiroshima University
Quy Xiao Xuan Lin, A-Star, Genome Institute of Singapore
Prasanna Nori Venkatesh, A-Star, Genome Institute of Singapore
Arindam Maitra, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics
Jinyeong Lim, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan university
Tsukasa Kouno, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Miki Kojima, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Akari Suzuki, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Jin Mi Oh, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan university
Keiko Myouzen, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Gyo Inoue, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Seiko Furukawa, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Mai Abe, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences
Narita Thungsatianpun, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University

Article Type

Research Article

Publication Title

Nature Genetics

Abstract

Alternative splicing contributes to complex traits, but whether this differs in trait-relevant cell types across diverse genetic ancestries is unclear. Here we describe cell-type-specific, sex-biased and ancestry-biased alternative splicing in ~1 M peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 474 healthy donors from the Asian Immune Diversity Atlas. We identify widespread sex-biased and ancestry-biased differential splicing, most of which is cell-type-specific. We identify 11,577 independent cis-splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTLs), 607 trans-sGenes and 107 dynamic sQTLs. Colocalization between cis-eQTLs and trans-sQTLs revealed a cell-type-specific regulatory relationship between HNRNPLL and PTPRC. We observed an enrichment of cis-sQTL effects in autoimmune and inflammatory disease heritability. Specifically, we functionally validated an Asian-specific sQTL disrupting the 5′ splice site of TCHP exon 4 that putatively modulates the risk of Graves’ disease in East Asian populations. Our work highlights the impact of ancestral diversity on splicing and provides a roadmap to dissect its role in complex diseases at single-cell resolution.

First Page

2739

Last Page

2752

DOI

10.1038/s41588-024-02019-8

Publication Date

12-1-2024

Share

COinS