Nature Communications, Published online: 11 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72720-1 Skin lesions are common manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here, the authors present a spatial transcriptomic atlas of lesional skin from patients with lupus and identify an acute inflammatory signature in SLE, contrasting with chronic damage in tertiary lymphoid structures in discoid lupus.