1. Academic Validation
  2. Enhanced type I interferon signature induces neutrophil extracellular traps enriched in mitochondrial DNA in adult-onset Still's disease

Enhanced type I interferon signature induces neutrophil extracellular traps enriched in mitochondrial DNA in adult-onset Still's disease

  • J Autoimmun. 2022 Feb;127:102793. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2022.102793.
Yuning Ma 1 Mengyan Wang 1 Jinchao Jia 1 Jianfen Meng 1 Jialin Teng 1 Dehao Zhu 1 Hui Shi 1 Yue Sun 1 Yutong Su 1 Honglei Liu 1 Xiaobing Cheng 1 Junna Ye 1 Huihui Chi 1 Tingting Liu 1 Xia Chen 1 Liyan Wan 1 Zhuochao Zhou 1 Fan Wang 1 Dongyi He 2 Chengde Yang 3 Qiongyi Hu 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 2 Department of Rheumatology, Shanghai Guanghua Hospital of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai, 200052, China; Institute of Arthritis Research in Integrative Medicine, Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China. Electronic address: hedongyi1967@shutcm.edu.cn.
  • 3 Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China. Electronic address: yangchengde@sina.com.
  • 4 Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China. Electronic address: huqiongyi131@163.com.
Abstract

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare but clinically well-known auto-inflammatory disorder. Cytokine storm, the hallmark of AOSD, is mediated by neutrophil hyperactivation and enhanced neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. Type I interferons (IFNs), having a primary role in the initiation of proinflammation responses, can induce subsequent inflammatory cytokine production. However, the role of type I IFNs in AOSD is unclear. Indeed, high levels of IFN-α and IFN-β expression are presented by AOSD patients. In this investigation, hierarchical unsupervised clustering was performed on IFN-α and IFN-β data to identify a cluster of AOSD patients who had a serious condition. Neutrophils from treatment-naïve active AOSD patients showed very strong enrichment in their IFN-α response, as shown by RNA-seq and confirmed by the IFN score. Whether IFN-α stimulates NET formation was also tested. IFN-α had the ability to form NETs that contained oxidized mitochondrial DNA (ox-mtDNA). Moreover, the JAK Inhibitor could be used to dampen type I IFN-induced NET formation and eventually control ox-mtDNA release. Our results demonstrated the important roles of type I IFNs in the pathogenesis of AOSD through their promotion of NET formation, as characterized by the enhanced level of ox-mtDNA. The findings open up new avenues of research into therapeutic approaches for AOSD.

Keywords

Adult-onset Still's disease; Neutrophil extracellular trap; Type I interferon.

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