Chromatin and Disease Group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Programme, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
J Autoimmun. 2013 Mar;41:6-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2012.12.005. Epub 2013 Jan 8.
Autoimmune rheumatic diseases are complex disorders, whose etiopathology is attributed to a crosstalk between genetic predisposition and environmental factors. Both variants of autoimmune susceptibility genes and environment are involved in the generation of aberrant epigenetic profiles in a cell-specific manner, which ultimately result in dysregulation of expression. Furthermore, changes in miRNA expression profiles also cause gene dysregulation associated with aberrant phenotypes. In rheumatoid arthritis, several cell types are involved in the destruction of the joints, synovial fibroblasts being among the most important. In this study we performed DNA methylation and miRNA expression screening of a set of rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts and compared the results with those obtained from osteoarthritis patients with a normal phenotype. DNA methylation screening allowed us to identify changes in novel key target genes like IL6R, CAPN8 and DPP4, as well as several HOX genes. A significant proportion of genes undergoing DNA methylation changes were inversely correlated with expression. miRNA screening revealed the existence of subsets of miRNAs that underwent changes in expression. Integrated analysis highlighted sets of miRNAs that are controlled by DNA methylation, and genes that are regulated by DNA methylation and are targeted by miRNAs with a potential use as clinical markers. Our study enabled the identification of novel dysregulated targets in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts and generated a new workflow for the integrated analysis of miRNA and epigenetic control.
自身免疫性风湿病是一种复杂的疾病,其病因学可归因于遗传易感性和环境因素之间的相互作用。自身免疫易感性基因的变体和环境都以细胞特异性的方式参与产生异常的表观遗传谱,最终导致表达失调。此外,miRNA 表达谱的变化也会导致与异常表型相关的基因失调。在类风湿关节炎中,有几种细胞类型参与关节的破坏,其中滑膜成纤维细胞最为重要。在这项研究中,我们对一组类风湿关节炎滑膜成纤维细胞进行了 DNA 甲基化和 miRNA 表达筛选,并将结果与表型正常的骨关节炎患者进行了比较。DNA 甲基化筛选使我们能够识别出一些新的关键靶基因,如 IL6R、CAPN8 和 DPP4,以及几个 HOX 基因的变化。发生 DNA 甲基化变化的基因中有相当一部分与表达呈负相关。miRNA 筛选揭示了表达发生变化的 miRNA 亚群的存在。综合分析突出了受 DNA 甲基化调控的 miRNA 集,以及受 DNA 甲基化调控且被具有潜在临床应用价值的 miRNA 靶向的基因。我们的研究确定了类风湿关节炎滑膜成纤维细胞中新的失调靶标,并为 miRNA 和表观遗传调控的综合分析生成了一个新的工作流程。