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Transcriptome analysis of CCR9+, CXCR5+ and CCR9-CXCR5- Th cells in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients and healthy controls (HC)

ABSTRACT: CCR9+ Tfh-like pathogenic T helper (Th) cells are elevated in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) and indicated to play a role in pSS immunopathology. CCR9+, CXCR5+ and CCR9-CXCR5- (double negative, DN) Th cells from blood of 7 healthy controls (HC) and 7 pSS patients were FACS sorted and RNA sequencing was performed. Our aim is to delineate the CCR9+ Th cell-specific transcriptome to study the molecular dysregulation of these cells in pSS patients. Transcriptomic analysis of circulating CCR9+ Th cells reveals CCR9-specific pathways involved in effector T cell function, equally expressed in pSS patients and HC. Given the increased numbers of CCR9+ Th cells in the blood and inflamed glands of pSS patients and presence of inflammatory stimuli to activate these cells this suggests that CCR9-specific functions, such as cell recruitment upon CCL5 secretion, could significantly contribute to immunopathology in pSS.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE173635 | GEO | 2021/07/26

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by infiltration of the exocrine glands and prominent B cell hyperactivity. Considering the key role of monocytes in promoting B cell hyperactivity, we performed RNA-sequencing analysis of CD14+ monocytes from patients with pSS, non-Sjögren’s sicca (nSS), and healthy controls (HC). We demonstrated that the transcriptomic profile of pSS patients is enriched in intermediate and non-classical monocyte profiles, and confirmed the increased frequency of non-classical monocytes in pSS patients by flow-cytometry analysis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified four molecular signatures in monocytes from pSS patients, functionally annotated for processes related with translation, IFN-signaling, and toll like receptor signaling. Systemic and local inflammatory features significantly correlated with the expression of these signatures. Furthermore, genes highly associated with clinical features in pSS were identified as hub-genes for each signature. Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis of the hub-genes identified four clusters of nSS and pSS patients, each with distinct inflammatory and transcriptomic profiles. One cluster showed a significantly higher percentage of pSS patients with higher prevalence of anti-SSA autoantibodies, interferon score, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate compared to the other clusters. Finally, we showed that the identified transcriptomic differences in pSS monocytes were induced in monocytes of healthy controls by exposure to serum of pSS patients. Representative hub-genes of all four signatures were partially inhibited by interferon-a/b receptor blockade, indicating that the circulating inflammatory mediators, including type I interferons have a significant contribution to the altered transcriptional profile of pSS-monocytes. Our study suggests that targeting key circulating inflammatory mediators, such as type I interferons, could offer new insights into the important pathways and mechanisms driving pSS, and holds promise for halting immunopathology in Sjögren’s Syndrome.

Project description:CD8+ T-cells inhibit virus replication in SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RM). However, it is not clear how SIV infection is controlled in germinal center during chronic SIV infection and limited information exists on the characteristics of CXCR5+ CD8 T cells during chronic SIV/HIV infection. In this study, we used functional genomics to investigate characteristic features and potential mechanisms of CXCR5+ and CXCR5- SIV specific CD8 T cells for the control of pathogenic SIV infection. Six chronically SIV infected RMs, three SIVE660 infected and three SIV mac251 infected that are positive for Mamu A01 allele were selected and SIV-specific CXCR5+ and CXCR5- CD8 T cells were sorted based on CXCR5 expression. RNA from sorted cells were extracted and microarray were performed and analysed. Principal component analysis demonstrated that overall gene expression difference between CXCR5+ and CXCR5- SIV-specific CD8 T cells. Interestingly, the CXCR5+ CD8 T cells revealed a distinct gene signature pattern when compared to CXCR5- CD8 T cells. Unlike the CXCR5- CD8 T cells, the CXCR5+ CD8 T cells expressed higher levels of genes associated with Tfh CD4 T cells such as the master transcription factor Bcl6, CD200, and CTLA4 as well as markers associated with Th2 CD4 T cells such as IL-4R (CD124), CCR4, STAT6, NFATC, and IL-10. Effector molecules typically observed in cytotoxic CD8 T cells such as granzyme A, B, and K were expressed at lower levels on CXCR5+ CD8 T cells compared to their CXCR5- counterparts. CXCR5+ CD8 T cells also expressed higher levels of molecules associated with co-stimulation/antigen presentation such as CD40, CD83, 41BBL and MAMU-DRA. The CXCR5+ CD8 also expressed higher levels of inhibitory receptors such as CD200 and SPRY2 but lower levels of other inhibitory receptors CD160 and CD244. The functional consequence of the expression of these molecules is yet to be determined. Additionally, CXCR5+ CD8 T cells expressed higher levels of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 and lower levels of the pro-apoptotic gene annexin, suggestive of their better survival potential during chronic SIV infection. Collectively, these results demonstrate that SIV specific CXCR5+ CD8 T cells possess a unique gene expression signature compared to SIV-specific CXCR5- CD8 T cells.

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Transcriptome analysis of CCR9+, CXCR5+ and CCR9-CXCR5- Th cells in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients and healthy controls (HC)

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