Single-cell profiling of immune cells in people with lupus in remission
Official title: Project 1: Multiplexed multimodal single-cell genomic profiling of SLE in remission
Funded at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research · NIH-11406916 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at blood immune cells and autoantibodies in people with lupus who are in long-term remission to find patterns that may predict who later relapses.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Feinstein Institute for Medical Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Manhasset, United States) |
| Project start | May 9, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $1,541,531 |
| NIH project number | 5P01AI172523-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11406916 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (21 years and older) with a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus who are in long-term drug-free remission (with or without hydroxychloroquine) are the intended participants.
✕Less likely to help
People without lupus, or those seeking immediate treatment changes, are unlikely to get direct clinical benefit because this is an observational biomarker and profiling effort.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will collect blood from people with lupus who have been off most drugs (some may be on hydroxychloroquine) and from people with active lupus and healthy volunteers. They will measure which immune cells are present and perform single-cell analyses that read RNA, chromatin accessibility (ATAC), and surface proteins, plus test B cells for reactivity to nuclear antigens. The study compares 250 people in remission with 60 active patients and 60 healthy controls and will follow outcomes over time to see who relapses. The goal is to describe different immune “states” that keep lupus quiet and to find early signals that predict relapse.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify blood markers that help predict lupus relapse and guide more personalized monitoring or early treatment.
How similar studies have gone: Previous single-cell and B-cell repertoire studies in autoimmunity have found disease-linked patterns, but applying comprehensive multimodal single-cell profiling specifically to long-term remission and relapse prediction is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Manhasset, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ye, Chun Jimmie — Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
- Study coordinator: Ye, Chun Jimmie
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.