Regulatory T Cell-Specific Epigenomic Region Variants Are a Key Determinant of Susceptibility to Common Autoimmune Diseases

Abstract

The contribution of natural Treg cells to polygenic autoimmune diseases remains unclear. Ohkura et al. characterized genome-wide epigenetic profiles of human Treg and Tconv cells and found that autoimmune disease SNPs were enriched in CpG-demethylated regions in naive Treg cells that were associated with Treg cell-specific super-enhancers, suggesting that altered Treg cell function contributes to susceptibility to common autoimmune diseases.