Project description:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease and its underlying molecular mechanisms are still poorly understood. Previously a CD4 T-cell microarray study has only focused arthritis patients. We aimed to compare the molecular profiles of active RA versus healthy control in CD4 T cells. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression in active RA and healthy control.
Project description:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory joint disease of unknown etiology and pronounced inter-patient heterogeneity. To characterize RA at the molecular level and to uncover key pathomechanisms, we performed whole-genome gene expression analyses. Synovial tissues from rheumatoid arthritis patients were compared to those from osteoarthritis patients and to normal donors. Keywords: disease state analysis
Project description:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), one of the most common polygenic diseases, is characterized by a chronic, progressive inflammation mainly in joints and has an unknown etiology. Numerous studies have revealed the significance of cytokines TNF and IL-1 in the onset and progression of RA. Due to the complexity of interactions among different cytokines and immune cells, little is known about the precise molecular mechanisms underlying RA. In this study, oligonucleotide microarray analysis and a mouse model of RA, IL-1 receptor antagonist deficient mice were used to address this issue. Two hundred and ninety transcripts were found to be dysregulated greater than or equal to 2-fold in the diseased mice. Phase-specific gene expression changes were identified, including early increase and late decrease of heat shock protein coding genes and Cyr61. Moreover, common gene expression changes were also observed, especially the upregulation of paired-Ig-like receptor A (Pira) in both early and late phases of arthritis. We conclude that common and distinct gene expression change patterns that were identified globally may represent novel opportunities for better control of RA through early diagnosis and development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Experiment Overall Design: Six wild-type and 6 Il1rn deficient BALB/c mice at 1 month and 4 month (3 for each time point) were used for microarray analysis of splenic gene expression profiling.
Project description:This project contains genome-wide DNA methylation data generated using the HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (Illumina), for 79 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) discordant monozygotic twin pairs. By investigating disease discordant monozygotic twins, DNA methylation can be assessed without the confounding influence of genetic heterogeneity which often affects case-control epigenome-wide association studies of common diseases. Twins were recruited from two cohorts; Arthritis Research UK in Manchester and TwinsUK in London.
Project description:Objectives: Epigenetics can influence disease susceptibility and severity. While DNA methylation of individual genes has been explored in autoimmunity, no unbiased systematic analyses have been reported. Therefore, a genome-wide evaluation of DNA methylation loci in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) isolated from the site of disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was performed. Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from six RA and five osteoarthritis (OA) FLS lines and evaluated using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 chip. Cluster analysis of data was performed and corrected using Benjamini–Hochberg adjustment for multiple comparisons. Methylation was confirmed by pyrosequencing and gene expression was determined by qPCR. Pathway analysis was performed using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Results: RA and control FLS segregated based on DNA methylation, with 1859 differentially methylated loci. Hypomethylated loci were identified in key genes relevant to RA, such as CHI3L1, CASP1, STAT3, MAP3K5, MEFV and WISP3. Hypermethylation was also observed, including TGFBR2 and FOXO1. Hypomethylation of individual genes was associated with increased gene expression. Grouped analysis identified 207 hypermethylated or hypomethylated genes with multiple differentially methylated loci, including COL1A1, MEFV and TNF. Hypomethylation was increased in multiple pathways related to cell migration, including focal adhesion, cell adhesion, transendothelial migration and extracellular matrix interactions. Confirmatory studies with OA and normal FLS also demonstrated segregation of RA from control FLS based on methylation pattern. Conclusions: Differentially methylated genes could alter FLS gene expression and contribute to the pathogenesis of RA. DNA methylation of critical genes suggests that RA FLS are imprinted and implicate epigenetic contributions to inflammatory arthritis. Fibroblast-like synoviocyte cell-lines from osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.
Project description:Sustained clinical remission (CR) without drug treatment has not been achieved in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This implies a substantial difference between CR and the healthy state, but it has yet to be quantified. We report a longitudinal monitoring of the drug response at multi-omics levels in the peripheral blood of patients with RA. Our data reveal that drug treatments alter the molecular profile closer to that of HCs at the transcriptome, serum proteome and immunophenotype level. Patient follow-up suggests that the molecular profile after drug treatments is associated with long-term stable CR. In addition, we identify molecular signatures that are resistant to drug treatments. These signatures are associated with RA independently of known disease severity indexes and are largely explained by the imbalance of neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. This high-dimensional phenotyping provides a quantitative measure of molecular remission and illustrates a multi-omics approach to understanding drug response.
Project description:Whole blood (paxgene) gene expression was measured using Affymetrix microarray from 377 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. RA patient samples were collected from a phase III clinical trial of golimumab in Patients with Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Despite Methotrexate Therapy (GO-FURTHER) according to trial protocol approved by local Institutional Review Board. A subset of subjects from the entire trial population at baseline (i.e., 377 subjects before golimumab treatment) was utilized. All patients consented to genetic and transcriptomics analyses.
Project description:Genome-wide DNA methylation level was studied to determine whether Rheumatoid arthritis patients (cases) has methylation differences comparing to normal controls in PBLs. We used Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array to determine the genome-wide DNA methylation difference in PBLs from Rheumatoid arthritis patients (cases) and normal controls Bisulphite converted DNA from the Rheumatoid arthritis patients (cases) and normal controls were hybridized to the Illumina Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip arrays