Background: Multiple sclerosis-associated genetic variants indicate that the adaptive immune system plays an important role in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis. It is currently not well understood how these multiple sclerosis-associated genetic variants contribute to multiple sclerosis risk. CD4þ T cells are suggested to be involved in multiple sclerosis disease processes. Objective: We aim to identify CD4þ T cell differential gene expression between multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls in order to understand better the role of these cells in multiple sclerosis. Methods: We applied RNA sequencing on CD4þ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls. Results: We did not identify significantly differentially expressed genes in CD4þ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients. Furthermore, pathway analyses did not identify enrichment for specific pathways in multiple sclerosis. When we investigated genes near multiple sclerosis-associated genetic variants, we did not observe significant enrichment of differentially expressed genes. Conclusion: We conclude that CD4þ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients do not show significant differential gene expression. Therefore, gene expression studies of all circulating CD4þ T cells may not result in viable biomarkers. Gene expression studies of more specific subsets of CD4þ T cells remain justified to understand better which CD4þ T cell subsets contribute to multiple sclerosis pathology.
CITATION STYLE
Brorson, I. S., Eriksson, A., Leikfoss, I. S., Celius, E. G., Berg-Hansen, P., Barcellos, L. F., … Bos, S. D. (2019). No differential gene expression for CD41 T cells of MS patients and healthy controls. Multiple Sclerosis Journal - Experimental, Translational and Clinical, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2055217319856903
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