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Variants in the DDX6-CXCR5 autoimmune disease risk locus influence the regulatory network in immune cells and salivary gland

  • Mandi M. Wiley
  • , Marcin Radziszewski
  • , Bhuwan Khatri
  • , Michelle L. Joachims
  • , Kandice L. Tessneer
  • , Anna M. Stolarczyk
  • , Songyuan Yao
  • , James Li
  • , Cherilyn Pritchett-Frazee
  • , Audrey A. Johnston
  • , Astrid Rasmussen
  • , Juan Manuel Anaya
  • , Lara A. Aqrawi
  • , Sang Cheol Bae
  • , Eva Baecklund
  • , Albin Björk
  • , Johan G. Brun
  • , Sara Magnusson Bucher
  • , Nick Dand
  • , Maija Leena Eloranta
  • Fiona Engelke, Helena Forsblad-d'Elia, Cecilia Fugmann, Stuart B. Glenn, Chen Gong, Jacques Eric Gottenberg, Daniel Hammenfors, Juliana Imgenberg-Kreuz, Janicke Liaaen Jensen, Svein Joar Auglænd Johnsen, Malin V. Jonsson, Jennifer A. Kelly, Sharmily Khanam, Kwangwoo Kim, Marika Kvarnström, Thomas Mandl, Javier Martín, David L. Morris, Gaetane Nocturne, Katrine Brække Norheim, Peter Olsson, Øyvind Palm, Jacques Olivier Pers, Nelson L. Rhodus, Christopher Sjöwall, Kathrine Skarstein, Kimberly E. Taylor, Phil Tombleson, Gudny Ella Thorlacius, Swamy R. Venuturupalli, Edward M. Vital, Daniel J. Wallace, Lida Radfar, Michael T. Brennan, Judith A. James, R. Hal Scofield, Patrick M. Gaffney, Lindsey A. Criswell, Roland Jonsson, Silke Appel, Per Eriksson, Simon J. Bowman, Roald Omdal, Lars Rönnblom, Blake M. Warner, Maureen Rischmueller, Torsten Witte, A. Darise Farris, Xavier Mariette, Caroline H. Shiboski, Marie Wahren-Herlenius, Marta E. Alarcón-Riquelme, Wan Fai Ng, Kathy L. Sivils, Joel M. Guthridge, Indra Adrianto, Timothy J. Vyse, Betty P. Tsao, Gunnel Nordmark, Christopher J. Lessard
  • Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
  • University of Oklahoma
  • Universidad de la Costa
  • Kristiania University College
  • University of Oslo
  • Hanyang University
  • Uppsala University
  • Karolinska Institutet
  • University of Bergen
  • Örebro University
  • King's College London
  • Hannover Medical School
  • University of Gothenburg
  • Umeå University
  • Strasbourg University Hospital
  • Université de Strasbourg
  • Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale
  • Stavanger University Hospital
  • Kyung Hee University
  • Stockholm County Council
  • Lund University
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
  • Université Paris-Saclay
  • Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris
  • Université de Bretagne Occidentale
  • CHU de Brest
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • Linköping University
  • University of California at San Francisco
  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • University of Leeds
  • NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre
  • Carolinas Medical Center
  • Wake Forest University
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • National Institutes of Health
  • University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
  • University of Adelaide
  • Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Regional Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO)
  • Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Newcastle University
  • Henry Ford Health System
  • Michigan State University
  • Medical University of South Carolina

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objectives: Sjögren's disease (SjD) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) share genetic risk at the DDX6-CXCR5 locus (11q23.3). Identifying and functionally characterising shared SNPs spanning this locus can provide new insights into common genetic mechanisms of autoimmunity. Methods: Transdisease meta-analyses, fine-mapping, and bioinformatic analyses prioritised shared likely functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for allele-specific and cell type–specific functional interrogation using electromobility shift, luciferase reporter, and quantitative chromatin conformation capture assays and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) gene regulation. Results: Five shared SNPs were identified as likely functional in primary human immune cells, salivary gland and kidney tissues: rs57494551, rs4936443, rs4938572, rs7117261, and rs4938573. All 5 SNPs exhibited cell type-specific and allele-specific effects on nuclear protein binding affinity and enhancer/promoter regulatory activity in immune, salivary gland epithelial, and kidney epithelial cell models. Mapping of chromatin–chromatin interactions revealed a chromatin regulatory network that expanded beyond DDX6 and CXCR5 to include PHLDB1, lnc-PHLDB1-1, BCL9L, TRAPPC4, among others. Coalescence of functional assays and multiomic data analyses indicated that these SNPs likely modulate the activity of 3 regulatory regions: intronic rs57494551 regulatory region, intergenic SNP haplotype (rs4938572, rs4936443, and rs7117261) regulatory region, and rs4938573 regulatory region upstream of the CXCR5 promoter. Conclusions: Shared genetic susceptibly at the DDX6-CXCR5 locus in SjD and SLE likely alters common mechanisms of autoimmunity, including interferon signalling (DDX6), autophagy (TRAPPC4), and lymphocytic infiltration of disease-target tissues (CXCR5). Further, using multiomic data from patients with SjD, combined with bioinformatic and in vitro functional studies, can provide mechanistic insights into how genetic risk influences the biological pathways that drive complex autoimmunity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1512-1527
Number of pages16
JournalAnnals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Volume84
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2025

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