Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder that predominantly affects women and is driven by autoreactive T cell-mediated inflammation. It is known that individuals with multiple X-chromosomes are at increased risk for developing SLE; however, the mechanisms underlying this genetic basis are unclear. Here, we use single cell imaging to determine the epigenetic features of the inactive X (Xi) in developing thymocytes, mature T cell subsets, and T cells from SLE patients and mice. We show that Xist RNA and heterochromatin modifications transiently reappear at the Xi and are missing in mature single positive T cells. Activation of mature T cells restores Xist RNA and heterochromatin marks simultaneously back to the Xi. Notably, X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) maintenance is altered in T cells of SLE patients and late-stage-disease NZB/W F1 female mice, and we show that X-linked genes are abnormally upregulated in SLE patient T cells. SLE T cells also have altered expression of XIST RNA interactome genes, accounting for perturbations of Xi epigenetic features. Thus, abnormal XCI maintenance is a feature of SLE disease, and we propose that Xist RNA localization at the Xi could be an important factor for maintaining dosage compensation of X-linked genes in T cells.
Altered X-chromosome inactivation in T cells may promote sex-biased autoimmune diseases.
C. Syrett,Bam Paneru,Donavon Sandoval-Heglund,Jianle Wang,Sarmistha Banerjee,Vishal J. Sindhava,E. Behrens,M. Atchison,M. Anguera
Published 2019 in JCI Insight
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- Publication year
2019
- Venue
JCI Insight
- Publication date
2019-04-04
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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