Single-cell RNA-sequencing of PBMCs from SAVI patients reveals disease-associated monocytes with elevated integrated stress response

Abstract

Gain-of-function mutations in stimulator of interferon gene 1 (STING1) result in STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI), a severe autoinflammatory disease. Although elevated type I interferon (IFN) production is thought to be the leading cause of the symptoms observed in patients, STING can induce a set of pathways, which have roles in the onset and severity of SAVI and remain to be elucidated. To this end, we performed a multi-omics comparative analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma from SAVI patients and healthy controls, combined with a dataset of healthy PBMCs treated with IFN-β. Our data reveal a subset of disease-associated monocyte, expressing elevated CCL3, CCL4, and IL-6, as well as a strong integrated stress response, which we suggest is the result of direct PERK activation by STING. Cell-to-cell communication inference indicates that these monocytes lead to T cell early activation, resulting in their senescence and apoptosis. Last, we propose a transcriptomic signature of STING activation, independent of type I IFN response.