Fig. 1: Human plaque immune cells display distinct patterns of immune checkpoint gene expression.
From: Immune checkpoint landscape of human atherosclerosis and influence of cardiometabolic factors
a, Schematic depiction of experimental design. scRNA-seq was performed on CD45+ cells from atherosclerotic plaque tissue collected from patients undergoing CEA (n = 22). b, UMAP of scRNA-seq data clustered by cell type. c, Proportions of major immune cell identities per patient. Each dot represents one patient. Boxes represent interquartile ranges; center lines depict medians. Whiskers below and above boxes represent extent of lower and upper quartiles, respectively (n = 22). d, Dot plot of IC gene expression by immune cell subclusters in human atherosclerotic plaques. Dot color represents positive fold change (FC) values in each subcluster compared to the rest (false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05). Among ‘FDA-approved targets’ are genes encoding direct targets of drugs approved by the US FDA to treat cancer-related indications as well as genes encoding their interaction partners. Among ‘Investigational targets’ are genes encoding ICs currently under investigation as potential cancer immunotherapy targets (ClinicalTrials.gov; 6 December 2023). ICs that do not fit either of these categories appear under ‘Other immune checkpoints’. Mye, myeloid cell; CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte; Reg, regulatory; Mono, monocyte; Mφ, macrophage; DC, dendritic cell.
