Table 4.

Spearman correlations with clinical symptoms (OSDI), Tear-break-up time (TBUT), and conjunctival (CJ) staining score were calculated using GraphPad Prism software using clinical data from all subjects (19 healthy controls and 7 SS KCS subjects). Out of 54 DEGs, only 29 of the upregulated DEGs showed a correlation.

Genes	OSDI	TBUT	CJ staining score	Pathways
CDKN1A	0.4*		0.48*	LA, HPI, CS
PRDM1	0.38*		0.39*	LA
HLA-B	0.37*	-0.46*	0.45*	TI, TII, MHC I, P, AIM and CA
LAMP3	0.4*	-0.45*	0.5*	P
MX1	0.43*	-0.46**	0.5**	TI, CS, HP
PSMB8	0.39*	-0.49**	0.5**	TI, MHC I, CS, IMS, AIM, NFkB, IMM, and Apo
TMEM173	0.39*	-0.49**	0.38*	HPI, IIS, NLR
CFB		-0.38*		HPI, IMS, C
CFI		-0.38*		HPI, IMS, C
IL1R1		-0.45*		CS, HPI, NFkB,
IL2RG		-0.4*		CS, HPI
IL4R		-0.4*		CS
B2M		-0.5*	0.45*	MHC I, TII, CS, IMS and AIM, LA
BATF		-0.46*	0.39*	CS, LA
BST2		-0.4*	0.43*	TI, MHC II, CS, IIS
CD74		-0.54**	0.54**	MHC II, HPI, AIS, LA
CXCL1		-0.42*	0.41*	CS, HPI, IIS, NLR
HLA-A		-0.43*	0.47*	TI, TII, MHC I, P, CS, HPI, AIS, LA, CA
HLA-DMA		-0.5**	0.51**	MHC II, P, HPI, CA
HLA-DRB3		-0.44*	0.5*	TII, P, CS, HPI, AIS, LA, CA
IFI35		-0.44*	0.44*	TI, CS
IFITM1		-0.47*	0.45*	TI, CS, AIS
IRF7		-0.4*	0.45*	TI, TII, CS, HPI, IIS, NLR, TLR, TS
RARRES3		-0.4*	0.41*	IMM
TAP1		-0.48*	0.5*	MHC I, P, HPI, AIM
TAP2		-0.39*	0.44*	MHC I, P, HPI, AIS
TNFAIP3		-0.4*	0.38*	HPI, IIS, NLR, LA, NFkB
TNFSF13B		-0.37*	0.38*	CS, LA, NFkB
PML			0.42*	TII, CS, HPI

AIS, adaptive immune system; Apo, Apoptosis; C, complement; CA, cell adhesion; CS, cytokine signaling; HP, Host-pathogen interaction; IMM, immunometabolism; IIS, Innate Immune system; LA, Lymphocyte activation; MHC I, MHC Class I antigen response; MHC II, MHC Class II antigen presentation; NFkB, NFkB signaling; P, Phagocytosis; NLR, Nod-like-receptor signaling; TLR, toll-like-receptor signaling; TS, transcriptional signaling; TI, Type I interferon, TII, Type II interferon. Numbers indicate the coefficient of correlation. *P<0.05, **P<0.01.