Fig 1: Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the crosstalk between macrophages and the fibroblast subsets through TNF signal.a Top, tSNE plot displaying 56396 cells from the synovium of 5 RA patients separated into 10 major cell types, including fibroblasts, pericytes, macrophages, monocytes, endothelial cells, MSCs, T cells, DCs, and B cells. b identification of 4 distinct fibroblast clusters. c Differences in pathway activities scored by GSVA among the different fibroblast clusters. d Identification of two fibroblast subsets according to the pathway activities in (c). e Functional association networks between signature genes specific to Fib a and Fib b subsets. f Violin plots showing expression levels for ferroptosis-resistant fibroblast marker genes in the identified Fib a and Fib b subsets. g Functional association networks between signature genes specific to Fib b subset. h Heat map showing the relative interaction between macrophages and the fibroblast subsets. i Overview of selected ligand–receptor interactions. The p-value is calculated through permutation tests. P values are indicated by circle size. The means of the average level of interacting molecule 1 in cluster 1 and interacting molecule 2 in cluster 2 are indicated by color. M, macrophages. j Western blotting analysis of p-IκB and IκB expression in fibroblasts treated with TNF and the specific blocking antibodies for TNFR1 or TNFR2 for 48 h. TNFR1 neutralizing antibody (Sino Biological, 10872-R111), TNFR2 neutralizing antibody (Sino Biological, 10417-R00N6). Source data are provided as a Source data file.