Researchers release population-scale immune multiome atlas linking regulatory variants to disease
A research consortium has published a large-scale multiome dataset profiling gene expression and chromatin accessibility across immune cell types in many individuals, generating single-cell eQTLs and chromatin accessibility QTLs. The dataset is designed to help pinpoint which genetic variants associated with disease actually alter gene regulation in specific immune cell states, building on prior efforts like GTEx, ENCODE and FinnGen.
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By combining single-cell resolution with population-scale sampling, this atlas could help close the long-standing gap between GWAS hits and their functional mechanisms, since most disease-associated variants lie in non-coding regulatory DNA rather than protein-coding genes. Researchers suggest such resources may improve fine-mapping of causal variants and clarify how immune cell context shapes disease risk, though translating these QTL associations into confirmed causal mechanisms will likely require further functional validation.
- A new multiome atlas profiles gene expression and chromatin accessibility across immune cells at population scale.
- The resource generates single-cell eQTLs and chromatin accessibility QTLs to link genetic variants to regulatory function.
- It builds on existing frameworks like GTEx, ENCODE and FinnGen to aid interpretation of disease-associated genetic variation.
Source: nature.com — Kanai, 2026-09-30
Published there as: “Population-scale immune multiome atlas reveals regulatory disease mechanisms”
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