Lung-resident immune cells link genetics to autoimmune risk

Researchers analyzed over 1.1 million tissue-resident lung immune cells from 128 donors using single-cell RNA-seq, revealing that genetic risk factors shape lung immune cell function and can drive autoimmune and inflammatory disease; thousands of risk-associated genes are active in tissue cells but not in blood, and about 1,700 genes show sex-specific expression, suggesting sex-based factors in disease susceptibility.