Time series RNA-seq of Th1 differentiation: The effect of Progesterone on Th1 differentiation?. Time series RNA-seq of Th1 differentiation: The effect of Progesterone on Th1 differentiation?

T-helper 1 responses are involved in the development of many autoimmune diseases such as Multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a relapse remitting disease that eventually progresses to a progressive neurodegenerative disease. During pregnancy the relapse rate of MS is significantly reduced with peak reduction during the third trimester followed by an increase in relapse rate post-partum. One of the highest expressed hormones during pregnancy is progesterone. Progesterone has been show to have an inhibiting effect on T-cell activation and been proposed to promote a T-regulatory like cell state. To evaluate the influence of progesterone on the chromatin and gene expressive state of T-helper type 1 cells we differentiated primary human naïve T-cell in the presence progesterone with sampling at 0.5, 1, 2, 6 and 24 hours and performed ATAC-seq and RNA-seq.