Epigenome analysis reveals novel aspects of ILC2 activation and supports a pathogenic role in asthma

Recent studies have shown that group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) can drive eosinophilic airway inflammation in mouse models of asthma. Moreover, elevated ILC2 counts and/or activity have been reported in asthmatics, together suggesting that ILC2s play an important role in asthma pathophysiology. However, many aspects of ILC2 biology are not fully understood, including the mechanisms underlying ILC2 activation, the tissue-specific functions of ILC2s during inflammation (e.g. lung versus draining lymph node) and what drives ILC2 plasticity. Importantly, it is unknown whether human (epi)genetic variation associated with asthma susceptibility and persistence can be coupled to ILC2s. We address these questions in our manuscript by studying the epigenome of murine ILC2s obtained from Gata3-reporter mice with eosinophilic airway inflammation as well as human ILC2s obtained from peripheral blood and activated in vitro. biological replicate (n=2-4) RNA-Seq and ChIPmentation experiments including negative controls