Early arthritis CD4+ T cell DNA methylation profiling

With a focus on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we sought new insight into genetic mechanisms of adaptive immune dysregulation to help prioritise molecular pathways for targeting in this and related immune pathologies. Whole genome methylation data from isolated CD4+ T cells of >100 genotyped and phenotyped inflammatory arthritis patients, all of whom were naïve to immunomodulatory treatments, were obtained. Analysis integrated these comprehensive data with GWAS findings across IMDs and other publically available resources. DNA material was extracted from CD4+ T cells isolated from fresh peripheral blood of suspected inflammatory arthritis patients of Northern European ancestry prior to treatment with immunomodulatory drugs. RA patients were classified with reference to the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria, and matched with disease controls in respect of demographic and clinical characteristics. 400ng of DNA was bisulphite-converted and DNAm quantified using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip (Illumina).