RNA-Seq analysis of unstimulated and LPS-stimulated monocytes from manifest HD and control subjects.

Previous work has shown that HD myeloid cells are functionally abnormal, producing significantly more proinflammatory cytokines following LPS stimulation compared to control cells. While their phenotypic abnormalities are relatively well characterised, considerably less is known about the transcriptional profile underpinning these changes. Monocytes were isolated from the peripheral blood of 30 manifest HD patients and 33 controls, before culturing with and without 4 h LPS stimulation. RNA-Seq was then carried out to characterise gene expression changes across the entire HD monocyte transcriptome.