The chromatin and single-cell transcriptional landscapes of CD4 T cells in inflammatory bowel disease link risk loci with a proinflammatory Th17 cell population
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ABSTRACT: Objective The imbalance between Th17 cells and regulatory T cells in the gut of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients promotes intestinal epithelial cell damage. In this scenario, T helper cell lineage commitment is accompanied by dynamic changes to the chromatin that facilitate, enforce or repress gene expression patterns and ultimately promote the induction and maintenance of dysregulated intestinal CD4 T cells. Design Here, we characterized the chromatin landscape and the heterogeneity of CD4 T cells from blood samples and biopsies of IBD patients using in house generated ATAC-Seq and single cell RNA-Seq libraries as well as publicly available datasets. Results We found that chromatin accessibility profiles specific to CD4 T cells from inflamed intestinal biopsies associate to inflammatory genes capable of promoting γδT, NK, T and B cell activation and proliferation. Our data show that the chromatin accessibility changes of CD4 T cells are associated with a higher predominance of pathogenic Th17 cells (pTh17 cells) in inflamed biopsies of IBD patients. In addition, we found that IBD risk loci in CD4 T cells are colocalized with accessible chromatin changes near pTh17-related genes. For instance, the IBD risk locus rs12942547 lies within an intronic STAT3 region enriched in areas of active intestinal inflammation from IBD patients. A similar profile was observed in a region near IL23R. Moreover, single cell RNA-Seq analysis of CD4 T cells from patient biopsies shows a population of CD4 T cells that resembles pTh17 cells with co-expression of Th1 and Th17 transcriptional programs, including a cytotoxic gene signature. Conclusion Altogether, our data suggest that cytotoxic pTh17 cells are associated with intestinal inflammation of IBD patients and specifically associate some IBD genetic variants with this CD4 T cell subset.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE226875 | GEO | 2023/03/20
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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