Depuydt Marie A C, Schaftenaar Frank H, Prange Koen H M, Boltjes Arjan, Hemme Esmeralda, Delfos Lucie, de Mol Jill, de Jong Maaike J M, Bernabé Kleijn Mireia N A, Peeters Judith A H M, Goncalves Lauren, Wezel Anouk, Smeets Harm J, de Borst Gert J, Foks Amanda C, Pasterkamp Gerard, de Winther Menno P J, Kuiper Johan, Bot Ilze, Slütter Bram
Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Division of Biotherapeutics, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, Experimental Vascular Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2023;2(2):112-125. doi: 10.1038/s44161-022-00208-4. Epub 2023 Jan 30.
Atherosclerosis is a lipid-driven chronic inflammatory disease; however, whether it can be classified as an autoimmune disease remains unclear. In this study, we applied single-cell T cell receptor seqencing (scTCR-seq) on human carotid artery plaques and matched peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples to assess the extent of TCR clonality and antigen-specific activation within the various T cell subsets. We observed the highest degree of plaque-specific clonal expansion in effector CD4 T cells, and these clonally expanded T cells expressed genes such as , and , indicative of recent TCR engagement, suggesting antigen-specific stimulation. CellChat analysis suggested multiple potential interactions of these effector CD4 T cells with foam cells. Finally, we integrated a published scTCR-seq dataset of the autoimmune disease psoriatic arthritis, and we report various commonalities between the two diseases. In conclusion, our data suggest that atherosclerosis has an autoimmune compondent driven by autoreactive CD4 T cells.
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