Search bioRxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.02.19.580713

Alterations in genes associated with cytosolic RNA sensing in whole blood are associated with coronary microvascular disease in SLE

Huo, L.·Montano, E.·Tumurkhuu, G.·Bose, M.·Berman, D. S.·Wallace, D.·Wei, J.·Ishimori, M.·Merz, C. N. B.·Jefferies, C.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate whether gene signatures discriminate systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) from those without and whether any signaling pathway is linked to the underlying pathobiology of SLE CMD. MethodsThis study collected whole blood RNA samples from female subjects aged 37 to 57, comprising 11 SLE patients (4 SLE-CMD, 7 SLE-non-CMD) and 10 HC. Total RNA was then used for library preparation and sequencing. Differential gene expression analysis was performed to identify gene signatures associated with CMD in SLE patients using DEseq2 v1.42.0. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis were performed by ClusterProfiler v4.10.0 and pathfindR v2.3.1. ResultsRNA-seq analysis revealed 143 differentially expressed (DE) genes between the SLE and HC groups. GO analysis indicated associations with virus defense and interferon signaling in SLE. 14 DE genes were identified from comparison between SLE-CMD and SLE-non-CMD with adjusted parameters (padj < 0.1). Notably, SLE-CMD exhibited elevated levels of genes associated with RNA sensing, while downregulated genes in SLE-non-CMD were associated with blood coagulation and cell-cell junction. Further investigation highlighted differences in IFN signaling and ADP-ribosylation pathways between SLE-CMD and SLE-non-CMD, suggesting distinct molecular mechanisms underlying vascular changes in CMD and reduced left ventricular function in non-CMD. ConclusionOur study identified a unique gene signature in SLE-CMD compared to the HC group, highlighting the significant involvement of type 1 interferon, RIG-I family proteins, and chronic inflammation in the progression of SLE-CMD. The intricate relationship between SLE-CMD and these factors underscores their probable role in initiating and advancing SLE-CMD.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

bioinformaticsPreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Huo, L., Montano, E., Tumurkhuu, G., Bose, M., Berman, D. S., Wallace, D., Wei, J., Ishimori, M., Merz, C. N. B., Jefferies, C.. 2024-02-21. Alterations in genes associated with cytosolic RNA sensing in whole blood are associated with coronary microvascular disease in SLE. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.19.580713

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

deepTools4: Faster, Scalable, and Modernized Genomic Data Analysis

The deepTools suite is widely used for quality control, summarization, and visualization of high-throughput sequencing data. However, as genomic datasets grow in scale and depth, existing tools often become computational bottlenecks. We present deepTools4, a modernized framework designed for high performance, scalability, and enhanced usability, while maintaining seamless integration with the Galaxy platform. Core functionality has been rewritten and thoroughly benchmarked, achieving substantial computational speed-ups. Visualization tools have been modernized to provide more intuitive, high-quality graphical outputs. In addition, our testing framework has been expanded to facilitate continuous development and ensure robustness. We demonstrate the utility of deepTools4 across diverse epigenomics and transcriptomics datasets, highlighting its ability to summarize genome-wide signals, apply a wide range of common normalization methods, and visualize enrichment patterns. The enhanced deepTools4 framework delivers a faster, more scalable solution for reproducible genome-wide analysis and interpretation across many sequencing modalities. Availability: https://github.com/deeptools/deepTools/

bioinformatics↗
bioRxiv2026

Reproducibility and cross-dataset concordance of drug-induced transcriptional responses

Drug-perturbation transcriptomic resources are expanding, but the reproducibility and cross-source consistency of the responses they measure remain critical to their use. We compared six resources using independent replicates, matched-drug analyses, and response decomposition. High agreement in treated expression did not translate into equally repeatable drug-induced changes. Cross-source response concordance was generally limited, including under matched cell and treatment conditions, although some comparisons retained drug-specific information. In Tahoe, a control-expression-only baseline left substantial drug-specific variation unresolved. Measured drug main effects - the average responses across cell lines - provided information for predicting cell-specific interactions, with this relationship retained in a cross-plate validation. Exploratory analyses of structure, target, and external-response representations identified modest signals in selected pipelines. Together, these analyses characterize the reliability and transferability of current perturbation resources and identify prediction of drug main effects as a key bottleneck in the framework examined, motivating shared reference measurements and better recovery of drug-specific responses.

bioinformatics↗
bioRxiv2026

Propensity-Adjusted AUC under Nuisance-Model Misspecification

Propensity adjustment compares medical-image detector scores within groups with similar measured properties, such as stain or focus. We examine its sensitivity to the nuisance model that forms those groups. Under Gaussian latent-index assumptions and exact linear-index strata, a closed-form correlation gives an exact boundary for adjusted AUC to fall below one half. Quadrature matches 36 simulation cells within 0.008. Inflation and attenuation relative to correct adjustment are empirical findings, not general ordering results. An overlap screen and a self-stratified control introduced for this study miss 140 of 141 simulated cells with absolute error above 0.05: checking the fitted propensity cannot certify completeness of the adjustment set. On real pathology corpora, logistic and boosted-tree models using the same 16 features disagree. Among splits where both pass both checks, mean adjusted-AUC gaps are 0.057 on acid-fast bacilli (AFB), 0.048 on Kaggle, and 0.049 on PCam, over three, five, and three splits respectively. These gaps measure model sensitivity; neither estimate is known to be correct. A controlled colour shift moves adjusted AUC relative to model-specific references in the predicted direction in 78 of 80 label-dependent cells. Broader balance and label-fit diagnostics favour trees without certifying their adjusted AUC. We recommend reporting sensitivity across nuisance models alongside these diagnostics. Reversal relative to known truth occurs in constructed stress tests; its frequency in practice remains unknown.

bioinformatics↗