Open Access

Single‑cell RNA‑Seq reveals PBMC profile alterations in a patient following a radiation accident

  • Authors:
    • Tao Yan
    • Zhiqiang Jiang
    • Wenling Tu
    • Kai Fang
    • Xiaopeng Xu
    • Wei Huang
    • Jianping Cao
    • Huojun Zhang
    • Daojiang Yu
    • Shuyu Zhang
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: March 14, 2025     https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2025.12846
  • Article Number: 96
  • Copyright: © Yan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Nuclear technology has been extensively used in various fields, increasing the possibility of radiation exposure to humans. Radiation exposure outcomes may be classified as whole‑body irradiation or local irradiation. Clinically, local irradiation refers to the exposure of a relatively limited portion of the body, with injury confined to the directly exposed tissues. However, locally irradiated tissues can trigger systemic reactions through the release of inflammatory factors or damage to blood cells at the irradiated site. The circulating population of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), a component of normal tissue, is particularly sensitive to ionizing radiation. The present study applied single‑cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‑Seq) to profile PBMCs from one irradiated patient and 10 healthy controls matched for sex and age. In total, 6,447 and 7,892 cells were collected for analysis from the PBMCs of the irradiated patient on the 113rd and 631st days post radiation, respectively, whereas 9,101 cells were obtained from 10 healthy controls. Following scRNA‑Seq, five cell types were annotated via representative markers, revealing distinct cell types whose proportions changed markedly in the irradiated patient. Trajectory analysis indicated that the dysregulation of multiple signaling pathways was associated with radiation exposure. Furthermore, single‑cell regulatory network inference and clustering analysis revealed gene regulatory networks and suggested the involvement of several signaling pathways, such as those related to viral infection, in the context of radiation exposure. The present study elucidated the dynamic landscape of human blood immune responses to ionizing radiation and provides evidence of its therapeutic potential for treating radiation injury.
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May-2025
Volume 29 Issue 5

Print ISSN: 1792-0981
Online ISSN:1792-1015

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Spandidos Publications style
Yan T, Jiang Z, Tu W, Fang K, Xu X, Huang W, Cao J, Zhang H, Yu D, Zhang S, Zhang S, et al: Single‑cell RNA‑Seq reveals PBMC profile alterations in a patient following a radiation accident. Exp Ther Med 29: 96, 2025.
APA
Yan, T., Jiang, Z., Tu, W., Fang, K., Xu, X., Huang, W. ... Zhang, S. (2025). Single‑cell RNA‑Seq reveals PBMC profile alterations in a patient following a radiation accident. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 29, 96. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2025.12846
MLA
Yan, T., Jiang, Z., Tu, W., Fang, K., Xu, X., Huang, W., Cao, J., Zhang, H., Yu, D., Zhang, S."Single‑cell RNA‑Seq reveals PBMC profile alterations in a patient following a radiation accident". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 29.5 (2025): 96.
Chicago
Yan, T., Jiang, Z., Tu, W., Fang, K., Xu, X., Huang, W., Cao, J., Zhang, H., Yu, D., Zhang, S."Single‑cell RNA‑Seq reveals PBMC profile alterations in a patient following a radiation accident". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 29, no. 5 (2025): 96. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2025.12846