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- CD4+ T cell transcriptomic characteristics regulated by lncRNA in patients with rheumatoid arthritisPublished on: 21 January 2022
- Published on: 21 January 2022CD4+ T cell transcriptomic characteristics regulated by lncRNA in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
We read with great interest the article by Eunji et al.1, who reported changes in target expression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), possibly via meQTL-mediated DMR, thereby affecting CD4+ T cell differentiation. The mechanism merits further attention, as it may provide insight into the cause of autoimmune disease.
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As the authors stated, CD4+ T cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA. From February 2016 to October 2021, 2518 patients with RA in our hospital provided peripheral blood samples to test CD4+ T cell subsets by flow cytometry. Compared with 100 healthy controls (HCs), we observed altered CD4+ T cell numbers in RA patients. RA patients had a lower absolute number of regulatory T cells (Tregs) (P < 0.001) but a higher proportion of effector T cells, such as Th17 (P < 0.05) (Figure 1).
Recent major advances have been made in our understanding of genomic and epigenetic changes in arthritis, particularly regarding aberrant DNA methylation, microRNA and noncoding RNA deregulation, and altered histone modifications, which alter the transcriptional activity of genes involved in autoimmune responses2. In addition to the findings of Eunji et al. that mutation-driven methylation altered CD4+ T cell expression to increase RA risk, lncRNAs also played a key role in regulating CD4+ T cell gene signatures. In our study, high-throughput sequencing data from CD4+ T cell subpopulations of 27 RA patients and 24 HCs were obtained from GSE1...Conflict of Interest:
None declared.