| 1. |
- Andrabi, Syed Bilal Ahmad, et al.
(författare)
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Long noncoding RNA LIRIL2R modulates FOXP3 levels and suppressive function of human CD4+ regulatory T cells by regulating IL2RA
- 2024
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 121:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are central in controlling immune responses, and dysregulation of their function can lead to autoimmune disorders or cancer. Despite extensive studies on Tregs, the basis of epigenetic regulation of human Treg development and function is incompletely understood. Long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNA)s are important for shaping and maintaining the epigenetic landscape in different cell types. In this study, we identified a gene on the chromosome 6p25.3 locus, encoding a lincRNA, that was up-regulated during early differentiation of human Tregs. The lincRNA regulated the expression of interleukin-2 receptor alpha (IL2RA), and we named it the lincRNA regulator of IL2RA (LIRIL2R). Through transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics analysis of LIRIL2R-deficient Tregs, coupled with global profiling of LIRIL2R binding sites using chromatin isolation by RNA purification, followed by sequencing, we identified IL2RA as a target of LIRIL2R. This nuclear lincRNA binds upstream of the IL2RA locus and regulates its epigenetic landscape and transcription. CRISPR-mediated deletion of the LIRIL2R-bound region at the IL2RA locus resulted in reduced IL2RA expression. Notably, LIRIL2R deficiency led to reduced expression of Treg-signature genes (e.g., FOXP3, CTLA4, and PDCD1), upregulation of genes associated with effector T cells (e.g., SATB1 and GATA3), and loss of Treg-mediated suppression.
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| 2. |
- Elo, Laura L., et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide profiling of interleukin-4 and STAT6 transcription factor regulation of human Th2 cell programming
- 2010
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Ingår i: Immunity. - : Cell Press. - 1074-7613 .- 1097-4180. ; 32:6, s. 852-862
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dissecting the molecular mechanisms by which T helper (Th) cells differentiate to effector Th2 cells is important for understanding the pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases, such as asthma and allergy. Because the STAT6 transcription factor is an upstream mediator required for interleukin-4 (IL-4)-induced Th2 cell differentiation, its targets include genes important for this process. Using primary human CD4(+) T cells, and by blocking STAT6 with RNAi, we identified a number of direct and indirect targets of STAT6 with ChIP sequencing. The integration of these data sets with detailed kinetics of IL-4-driven transcriptional changes showed that STAT6 was predominantly needed for the activation of transcription leading to the Th2 cell phenotype. This integrated genome-wide data on IL-4- and STAT6-mediated transcription provide a unique resource for studies on Th cell differentiation and, in particular, for designing interventions of human Th2 cell responses.
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| 3. |
- Gustafsson, Mika, et al.
(författare)
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A validated gene regulatory network and GWAS identifies early regulators of T cell-associated diseases
- 2015
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Ingår i: Science Translational Medicine. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 1946-6234 .- 1946-6242. ; 7:313
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Early regulators of disease may increase understanding of disease mechanisms and serve as markers for presymptomatic diagnosis and treatment. However, early regulators are difficult to identify because patients generally present after they are symptomatic. We hypothesized that early regulators of T cell-associated diseases could be found by identifying upstream transcription factors (TFs) in T cell differentiation and by prioritizing hub TFs that were enriched for disease-associated polymorphisms. A gene regulatory network (GRN) was constructed by time series profiling of the transcriptomes and methylomes of human CD4(+) T cells during in vitro differentiation into four helper T cell lineages, in combination with sequence-based TF binding predictions. The TFs GATA3, MAF, and MYB were identified as early regulators and validated by ChIP-seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing) and small interfering RNA knockdowns. Differential mRNA expression of the TFs and their targets in T cell-associated diseases supports their clinical relevance. To directly test if the TFs were altered early in disease, T cells from patients with two T cell-mediated diseases, multiple sclerosis and seasonal allergic rhinitis, were analyzed. Strikingly, the TFs were differentially expressed during asymptomatic stages of both diseases, whereas their targets showed altered expression during symptomatic stages. This analytical strategy to identify early regulators of disease by combining GRNs with genome-wide association studies may be generally applicable for functional and clinical studies of early disease development.
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| 4. |
- Kallionpää, Henna, et al.
(författare)
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Early Detection of Peripheral Blood Cell Signature in Children Developing beta-Cell Autoimmunity at a Young Age
- 2019
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Ingår i: Diabetes. - : American Diabetes Association. - 0012-1797 .- 1939-327X. ; 68:10, s. 2024-2034
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The appearance of type 1 diabetes (T1D)-associated autoantibodies is the first and only measurable parameter to predict progression toward T1D in genetically susceptible individuals. However, autoantibodies indicate an active autoimmune reaction, wherein the immune tolerance is already broken. Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need for new biomarkers that predict the onset of the autoimmune reaction preceding autoantibody positivity or reflect progressive beta-cell destruction. Here we report the mRNA sequencing-based analysis of 306 samples including fractionated samples of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells as well as CD4(-)CD8(-) cell fractions and unfractionated peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples longitudinally collected from seven children who developed beta-cell autoimmunity (case subjects) at a young age and matched control subjects. We identified transcripts, including interleukin 32 (IL32), that were upregulated before T1D-associated autoantibodies appeared. Single-cell RNA sequencing studies revealed that high IL32 in case samples was contributed mainly by activated T cells and NK cells. Further, we showed that IL32 expression can be induced by a virus and cytokines in pancreatic islets and beta-cells, respectively. The results provide a basis for early detection of aberrations in the immune system function before T1D and suggest a potential role for IL32 in the pathogenesis of T1D.
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| 5. |
- Laajala, Essi, et al.
(författare)
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Permutation-based significance analysis reduces the type 1 error rate in bisulfite sequencing data analysis of human umbilical cord blood samples
- 2022
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Ingår i: Epigenetics. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1559-2294 .- 1559-2308. ; 17:12, s. 1608-1627
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- DNA methylation patterns are largely established in-utero and might mediate the impacts of in-utero conditions on later health outcomes. Associations between perinatal DNA methylation marks and pregnancy-related variables, such as maternal age and gestational weight gain, have been earlier studied with methylation microarrays, which typically cover less than 2% of human CpG sites. To detect such associations outside these regions, we chose the bisulphite sequencing approach. We collected and curated clinical data on 200 newborn infants; whose umbilical cord blood samples were analysed with the reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS) method. A generalized linear mixed-effects model was fit for each high coverage CpG site, followed by spatial and multiple testing adjustment of P values to identify differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs) and regions (DMRs) associated with clinical variables, such as maternal age, mode of delivery, and birth weight. Type 1 error rate was then evaluated with a permutation analysis. We discovered a strong inflation of spatially adjusted P values through the permutation analysis, which we then applied for empirical type 1 error control. The inflation of P values was caused by a common method for spatial adjustment and DMR detection, implemented in tools comb-p and RADMeth. Based on empirically estimated significance thresholds, very little differential methylation was associated with any of the studied clinical variables, other than sex. With this analysis workflow, the sex-associated differentially methylated regions were highly reproducible across studies, technologies, and statistical models.
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| 6. |
- Laajala, Essi, et al.
(författare)
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Umbilical cord blood DNA methylation in children who later develop type 1 diabetes
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Journal of Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0014-2980 .- 1521-4141. ; 51:Suppl. 1, s. 291-291
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Distinct DNA methylation patterns have recently been observed to precede Type 1 Diabetes in whole blood collected from young children. Our aim was to determine if such methylation patterns are present already at the time of birth. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) analysis was performed on a unique collection of umbilical cord blood samples collected within the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) study. Children later diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and/or testing positive for multiple islet autoantibodies (N=43) were compared to control individuals (N=79), who remained autoantibody‐negative throughout the DIPP follow‐up until 15 years of age. Altogether 24 clinical and technical covariates related to the pregnancy and the mother were included in a binomial mixed effects model, which was fit separately for each high‐coverage CpG site, followed by spatial and multiple testing adjustment of P values. We discovered a strong inflation of P values, which was caused by a standard spatial adjustment method. Findings that were based on Benjamini‐Hochberg corrected spatially adjusted P values, could not be validated by Pyrosequencing. We therefore used permutation‐based significance analysis and showed that sex‐associated differentially methylated cytosines could be reproducibly detected with this approach. After empirical type 1 error control, no differences in cord blood methylation patterns were observed between cases and controls. Differences between children who progress to Type 1 Diabetes and those who remain healthy throughout childhood, are not yet present in the perinatal DNA methylome.
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| 7. |
- Laajala, Essi, et al.
(författare)
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Umbilical cord blood DNA methylation in children who later develop type 1 diabetes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Diabetologia. - : Springer. - 0012-186X .- 1432-0428. ; 65:9, s. 1534-1540
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Distinct DNA methylation patterns have recently been observed to precede type 1 diabetes in whole blood collected from young children. Our aim was to determine whether perinatal DNA methylation is associated with later progression to type 1 diabetes.METHODS: Reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS) analysis was performed on umbilical cord blood samples collected within the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Study. Children later diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and/or who tested positive for multiple islet autoantibodies (n = 43) were compared with control individuals (n = 79) who remained autoantibody-negative throughout the DIPP follow-up until 15 years of age. Potential confounding factors related to the pregnancy and the mother were included in the analysis.RESULTS: No differences in the umbilical cord blood methylation patterns were observed between the cases and controls at a false discovery rate <0.05.CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Based on our results, differences between children who progress to type 1 diabetes and those who remain healthy throughout childhood are not yet present in the perinatal DNA methylome. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that such differences would be found in a larger dataset.
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| 8. |
- Sen, Partho, et al.
(författare)
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Quantitative analysis of human CD4+T-cell differentiation reveals subset-specific regulation of glycosphingolipid pathways
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Journal of Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0014-2980 .- 1521-4141. ; 51:Suppl. 1, s. 237-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- T‐cells are sentinels of adaptive immune responses. T‐cell activation, proliferation and differentiation involves metabolic reprogramming involving the interplay of genes, proteins and metabolites. Here, we aim to understand the metabolic pathways involved in the activation and functional differentiation of human CD4+ T‐cell subsets (Th1, Th2, Th17 and iTregs). We combined genome‐scale metabolic modeling, gene expression data, targeted and non‐targeted lipidomics experiments, together with in vitro gene knockdown experiments and showed that human CD4+ T cells undergo specific metabolic changes during activation and functional differentiation. In addition, we identified and confirmed the importance of ceramide and glycosphingolipid biosynthesis pathways in Th17 differentiation and effector functions. Through in vitro gene knockdown experiments, we substantiated the requirement of serine palmitoyl transferase, a de novo sphingolipid pathway in the expression of proinflammatory cytokine (IL17A and IL17F) by Th17 cells. Our findings may provide a comprehensive resource for identifying CD4+ T‐cell‐specific targets for their selective manipulation under disease conditions, particularly, diseases characterized by an imbalance of Th17/nTreg cells.
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| 9. |
- Sen, Partho, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Quantitative genome-scale metabolic modeling of human CD4+ T cell differentiation reveals subset-specific regulation of glycosphingolipid pathways
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cell Reports. - : Cell Press. - 2211-1247. ; 37:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- T cell activation, proliferation, and differentiation involve metabolic reprogramming resulting from the interplay of genes, proteins, and metabolites. Here, we aim to understand the metabolic pathways involved in the activation and functional differentiation of human CD4+ T cell subsets (T helper [Th]1, Th2, Th17, and induced regulatory T [iTreg] cells). Here, we combine genome-scale metabolic modeling, gene expression data, and targeted and non-targeted lipidomics experiments, together with in vitro gene knockdown experiments, and show that human CD4+ T cells undergo specific metabolic changes during activation and functional differentiation. In addition, we confirm the importance of ceramide and glycosphingolipid biosynthesis pathways in Th17 differentiation and effector functions. Through in vitro gene knockdown experiments, we substantiate the requirement of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a de novo sphingolipid pathway in the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-17A and IL17F) by Th17 cells. Our findings provide a comprehensive resource for selective manipulation of CD4+ T cells under disease conditions characterized by an imbalance of Th17/natural Treg (nTreg) cells.
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