Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals sex differences in the subcellular composition and associated gene-regulatory network activity of human carotid plaques.

ABSTRACT: Carotid stenosis causes ischemic stroke in both sexes, but the clinical presentation and plaque characteristics differ. Here we run deep single-cell sequencing of 7,690 human carotid plaque cells from male and female patients. While we found no sex differences in major cell types, we identified a predominance of the osteogenic phenotype in smooth muscle cells, immunomodulating macrophages (MPs) and endothelial cells (ECs) undergoing endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition in females. In males, we found smooth muscle cells with the chondrocytic phenotype, MPs involved in tissue remodeling and ECs with angiogenic activity. Sex-biased subcellular clusters were integrated with tissue-specific gene-regulatory networks (GRNs) from the Stockholm-Tartu Atherosclerosis Reverse Network Engineering Tas

SUBMITTER: Sukhavasi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11994450 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature