Dissection of multiple sclerosis genetics identifies B and CD4+ T cells as driver cell subsets.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune condition of the central nervous system with a well-characterized genetic background. Prior analyses of MS genetics have identified broad enrichments across peripheral immune cells, yet the driver immune subsets are unclear.

Results

We utilize chromatin accessibility data across hematopoietic cells to identify cell type-specific enrichments of MS genetic signals. We find that CD4 T and B cells are independently enriched for MS genetics and further refine the driver subsets to T_h17 and memory B cells, respectively. We replicate our findings in data from untreated and treated MS patients and find that immunomodulatory treatments suppress chromatin accessibility at driver cell types. Integration of statistical fine-

SUBMITTER: Guo MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9175345 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature