Featured immune characteristics of COVID-19 and systemic lupus erythematosus revealed by multidimensional integrated analyses

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) shares similar immune characteristics with autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, such associations have not yet been investigated at the single-cell level. Methods We integrated and analyzed RNA sequencing results from different patients and normal controls from the GEO database and identified subsets of immune cells that might involve in the pathogenesis of SLE and COVID- 19. We also disentangled the characteristic alterations in cell and molecular subset proportions as well as gene expression patterns in SLE patients compared with COVID-19 patients. Results Key immune characteristic genes (such as CXCL10 and RACK1) and multiple immune-related pathways (such as the coronavirus disease-COVID-19, T-cell receptor signaling, and MIF-related signaling pathways) were identified. We also highlighted the differences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) between SLE and COVID-19 patients. Moreover, we provided an opportunity to comprehensively probe underlying B-cell‒cell communication with multiple ligand–receptor pairs (MIF-CD74+CXCR4, MIF-CD74+CD44) and the differentiation trajectory of B-cell clusters that is deemed to promote cell state transitions in COVID-19 and SLE. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the immune response differences and immune characteristic similarities, such as the cytokine storm, between COVID-19 and SLE, which might pivotally function in the pathogenesis of the two diseases and provide potential intervention targets for both diseases.