The genetic basis of autoimmunity seen through the lens of T cell functional traits.

Lagattuta KA, Park HL, Rumker L, Ishigaki K, Nathan A, Raychaudhuri S. The genetic basis of autoimmunity seen through the lens of T cell functional traits.. Nature communications. 2024;15(1):1204. PMID: 38331990

Abstract

Autoimmune disease heritability is enriched in T cell-specific regulatory regions of the genome. Modern-day T cell datasets now enable association studies between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a myriad of molecular phenotypes, including chromatin accessibility, gene expression, transcriptional programs, T cell antigen receptor (TCR) amino acid usage, and cell state abundances. Such studies have identified hundreds of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in T cells that colocalize with genetic risk for autoimmune disease. The key challenge facing immunologists today lies in synthesizing these results toward a unified understanding of the autoimmune T cell: which genes, cell states, and antigens drive tissue destruction?

Last updated on 12/12/2024
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