Fig. 4

Reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks and ligand-receptor interactions during relatively healthy aging, age-associated frailty, and age-independent frailty.

(a) Heatmap visualization of log2 fold-changes based on the average area under the curve (AUC) scores (regulon activities) of B cells in different compared groups. AIF refers to age-independent frailty (F-O vs. NF-O), AAF is age-associated frailty (F-O vs. NF-Y), and RHA is relatively healthy aging (NF-O vs. NF-Y). (b) B cell regulons were visualized as networks. Transcription factors (TFs) and targeted DEGs are shown as square and circular nodes, respectively. The candidate targets of top 10 TFs and DEGs in each group were merged. The intersection was used to plot the regulation networks. (c-e) Network plots showing changes in ligand-receptor interaction events between different cell types in the RHA (c), AAF (d) and AIF (e) groups. Cell-cell communication is indicated by the connected line. The thickness of the lines is correlated with the number of ligand-receptor interaction events. Edge thickness scales with ligand-receptor interaction frequency are shown. Red and blue edges indicate increased and decreased interactions, respectively. (f-h) Network plots showing changes in ligand-receptor interaction events between B cells and other cell types in the RHA (f), AAF (g), and AIF (h) groups. Cell-cell communication is indicated by the connected line. The thickness of the lines is correlated with the number of ligand-receptor interaction events. Edge thickness scales with ligand-receptor interaction frequency are shown. Red and blue edges indicate increased and decreased interactions, respectively.