| 1. |
- Farias, Fabiana H. G., et al.
(författare)
-
A rare regulatory variant in the MEF2D gene affects gene regulation and splicing and is associated with a SLE sub-phenotype in Swedish cohorts
- 2019
-
Ingår i: European Journal of Human Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-4813 .- 1476-5438. ; 27, s. 432-441
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder with heterogeneous clinical presentation and complex etiology involving the interplay between genetic, epigenetic, environmental and hormonal factors. Many common SNPs identified by genome wide-association studies (GWAS) explain only a small part of the disease heritability suggesting the contribution from rare genetic variants, undetectable in GWAS, and complex epistatic interactions. Using targeted re-sequencing of coding and conserved regulatory regions within and around 215 candidate genes selected on the basis of their known role in autoimmunity and genes associated with canine immune-mediated diseases, we identified a rare regulatory variant rs200395694:G > T located in intron 4 of the MEF2D gene encoding the myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2D transcription factor and associated with SLE in Swedish cohorts (504 SLE patients and 839 healthy controls, p = 0.014, CI = 1.1-10). Fisher's exact test revealed an association between the genetic variant and a triad of disease manifestations including Raynaud, anti-U1-ribonucleoprotein (anti-RNP), and anti-Smith (anti-Sm) antibodies (p = 0.00037) among the patients. The DNA-binding activity of the allele was further studied by EMSA, reporter assays, and minigenes. The region has properties of an active cell-specific enhancer, differentially affected by the alleles of rs200395694:G > T. In addition, the risk allele exerts an inhibitory effect on the splicing of the alternative tissue-specific isoform, and thus may modify the target gene set regulated by this isoform. These findings emphasize the potential of dissecting traits of complex diseases and correlating them with rare risk alleles with strong biological effects.
|
|
| 2. |
- Leonard, Dag, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
-
Novel gene variants associated with cardiovascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 77:7, s. 1063-1069
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at autoimmunity risk loci were associated with CVD in SLE and RA.METHODS: Patients with SLE (n=1045) were genotyped using the 200K Immunochip SNP array (Illumina). The allele frequency was compared between patients with and without different manifestations of CVD. Results were replicated in a second SLE cohort (n=1043) and in an RA cohort (n=824). We analysed publicly available genetic data from general population, performed electrophoretic mobility shift assays and measured cytokine levels and occurrence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs).RESULTS: We identified two new putative risk loci associated with increased risk for CVD in two SLE populations, which remained after adjustment for traditional CVD risk factors. An IL19 risk allele, rs17581834(T) was associated with stroke/myocardial infarction (MI) in SLE (OR 2.3 (1.5 to 3.4), P=8.5×10-5) and RA (OR 2.8 (1.4 to 5.6), P=3.8×10-3), meta-analysis (OR 2.5 (2.0 to 2.9), P=3.5×10-7), but not in population controls. The IL19 risk allele affected protein binding, and SLE patients with the risk allele had increased levels of plasma-IL10 (P=0.004) and aPL (P=0.01). An SRP54-AS1 risk allele, rs799454(G) was associated with stroke/transient ischaemic attack in SLE (OR 1.7 (1.3 to 2.2), P=2.5×10-5) but not in RA. The SRP54-AS1 risk allele is an expression quantitative trait locus for four genes.CONCLUSIONS: The IL19 risk allele was associated with stroke/MI in SLE and RA, but not in the general population, indicating that shared immune pathways may be involved in the CVD pathogenesis in inflammatory rheumatic diseases.
|
|
| 3. |
- Sandling, Johanna K., et al.
(författare)
-
Molecular pathways in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus revealed by gene-centred DNA sequencing
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 80:1, s. 109-117
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with extensive heterogeneity in disease presentation between patients, which is likely due to an underlying molecular diversity. Here, we aimed at elucidating the genetic aetiology of SLE from the immunity pathway level to the single variant level, and stratify patients with SLE into distinguishable molecular subgroups, which could inform treatment choices in SLE. Methods: We undertook a pathway-centred approach, using sequencing of immunological pathway genes. Altogether 1832 candidate genes were analysed in 958 Swedish patients with SLE and 1026 healthy individuals. Aggregate and single variant association testing was performed, and we generated pathway polygenic risk scores (PRS). Results: We identified two main independent pathways involved in SLE susceptibility: T lymphocyte differentiation and innate immunity, characterised by HLA and interferon, respectively. Pathway PRS defined pathways in individual patients, who on average were positive for seven pathways. We found that SLE organ damage was more pronounced in patients positive for the T or B cell receptor signalling pathways. Further, pathway PRS-based clustering allowed stratification of patients into four groups with different risk score profiles. Studying sets of genes with priors for involvement in SLE, we observed an aggregate common variant contribution to SLE at genes previously reported for monogenic SLE as well as at interferonopathy genes. Conclusions: Our results show that pathway risk scores have the potential to stratify patients with SLE beyond clinical manifestations into molecular subsets, which may have implications for clinical follow-up and therapy selection.
|
|
| 4. |
- Sandling, Johanna K, 1979-
(författare)
-
Genetic Analyses of Multiple Sclerosis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus : From Single Markers to Genome-Wide Data
- 2010
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In autoimmune diseases an individual’s immune system becomes targeted at the body’s own healthy cells. The aim of this thesis was to identify genetic risk factors for the two autoimmune diseases multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In Study I, we found that genetic variation in the interferon regulatory factor 5 gene (IRF5), previously shown to be associated with SLE, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases, was associated also with MS. An insertion/deletion polymorphism in the first intron of IRF5 is as a good functional candidate for this association. IRF5, together with the signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 gene (STAT4), are the most important genetic risk factors for SLE, outside the HLA region. In Study II we showed using a family-based study design that genetic variation in STAT4 is associated with SLE also in the Finnish population. In Study III, we investigated a STAT4 risk allele for SLE for its association with cardiovascular disease in SLE patients. The risk allele of STAT4 proved to be strongly associated with ischemic cerebrovascular disease and anti-phospholipid antibodies in SLE patients. A possible mechanism for this association is that the risk allele leads to increased production of pro-thrombotic anti-phospholipid antibodies, which in turn increases the risk for stroke. Both IRF5 and STAT4 are involved in signalling of the type I interferon system. In Study IV, we investigated 78 additional genes in this system for their association with SLE in a Swedish cohort. The most promising results were followed up in additional patients and controls from Sweden and the US. Two novel SLE genes were identified. In Study V a large follow-up of a genome-wide association study was performed. Five new SLE loci were identified: TNIP1, PRDM1, JAZF1, UHRF1BP1 and IL10. A number of genes previously shown to be associated with other autoimmune diseases were also tested for association with SLE. This analysis identified the type I interferon system gene IFIH1 as a novel SLE risk locus. These studies confirms the central role of the type I interferon system in SLE and further suggests common genetic risk factors in autoimmunity.
|
|
