A Transcriptomic Map of Murine and Human Alopecia Areata

May 2020 in “ JCI Insight ”

Nicholas Borcherding, Sydney Crotts, Luana dos Santos Ortolan, Nicholas Henderson, Nicholas L. Bormann, Ali Jabbari

alopecia areata autoimmune condition single-cell sequencing immune cell expression profiles CD4+ T cells CD8+ T cells clonal expansions transcriptional states pathogenesis predictive models therapeutic intervention AA immune system T cells

TLDR Alopecia areata involves specific immune cells, offering potential treatment targets.

The study provided a detailed transcriptomic map of immune cells in murine and human alopecia areata (AA) by analyzing 10,505 immune cells, identifying 15 immune cell clusters with distinct gene expression profiles between AA and unaffected samples. It revealed increased proinflammatory signatures in antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and T cells, with APCs polarized towards proinflammatory CD11b+ dendritic cells and significant increases in angiogenic, CD40, IFN-γ, JAK/STAT, and hypoxic signaling. T cell analysis showed increased cytotoxic and proinflammatory activity, with greater clonotypic sharing among T cells in AA. The study also demonstrated that murine AA T cells had a greater shared repertoire and sustained CD4 activation, while human AA gene signatures for CD4+ and CD8+ T cells showed high discrimination performance. Key genes associated with AA were identified, providing insights into the disease's pathogenesis.

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