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Pehrson I, Sayyab S, Das J, Idh N, Paues J, Méndez-Aranda M, Ugarte-Gil C, Lerm M. The spectrum of tuberculosis described as differential DNA methylation patterns in alveolar macrophages and alveolar T cells. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:175. [PMID: 36527066 PMCID: PMC9758029 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01390-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Host innate immune cells have been identified as key players in the early eradication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and in the maintenance of an anti-mycobacterial immune memory, which we and others have shown are induced through epigenetic reprogramming. Studies on human tuberculosis immunity are dominated by those using peripheral blood as surrogate markers for immunity. We aimed to investigate DNA methylation patterns in immune cells of the lung compartment by obtaining induced sputum from M. tuberculosis- exposed subjects including symptom-free subjects testing positively and negatively for latent tuberculosis as well as patients diagnosed with active tuberculosis. Alveolar macrophages and alveolar T cells were isolated from the collected sputum and DNA methylome analyses performed (Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450 k). RESULTS Multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that DNA methylomes of cells from the tuberculosis-exposed subjects and controls appeared as separate clusters. The numerous genes that were differentially methylated between the groups were functionally connected and overlapped with previous findings of trained immunity and tuberculosis. In addition, analysis of the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) status of the subjects demonstrated that the IGRA status was reflected in the DNA methylome by a unique signature. CONCLUSIONS This pilot study suggests that M. tuberculosis induces epigenetic reprogramming in immune cells of the lung compartment, reflected as a specific DNA methylation pattern. The DNA methylation signature emerging from the comparison of IGRA-negative and IGRA-positive subjects revealed a spectrum of signature strength with the TB patients grouping together at one end of the spectrum, both in alveolar macrophages and T cells. DNA methylation-based biosignatures could be considered for further development towards a clinically useful tool for determining tuberculosis infection status and the level of tuberculosis exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle Pehrson
- grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Inflammation and Infection, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Lab 1, Floor 12, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Shumaila Sayyab
- grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Inflammation and Infection, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Lab 1, Floor 12, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Jyotirmoy Das
- grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Inflammation and Infection, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Lab 1, Floor 12, 58185 Linköping, Sweden ,grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Bioinformatics Unit (Core Facility), Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden ,grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Clinical Genomics Linköping, SciLife Laboratory, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Nina Idh
- grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Inflammation and Infection, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Lab 1, Floor 12, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Jakob Paues
- grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Inflammation and Infection, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Lab 1, Floor 12, 58185 Linköping, Sweden ,grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Melissa Méndez-Aranda
- grid.11100.310000 0001 0673 9488Laboratorio de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Facultad de Ciencias Y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - César Ugarte-Gil
- grid.11100.310000 0001 0673 9488School of Medicine, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru ,grid.11100.310000 0001 0673 9488Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander Von Humboldt, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Maria Lerm
- grid.5640.70000 0001 2162 9922Division of Inflammation and Infection, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Lab 1, Floor 12, 58185 Linköping, Sweden
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Qi L, Teschendorff AE. Cell-type heterogeneity: Why we should adjust for it in epigenome and biomarker studies. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:31. [PMID: 35227298 PMCID: PMC8887190 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01253-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Most studies aiming to identify epigenetic biomarkers do so from complex tissues that are composed of many different cell-types. By definition, these cell-types vary substantially in terms of their epigenetic profiles. This cell-type specific variation among healthy cells is completely independent of the variation associated with disease, yet it dominates the epigenetic variability landscape. While cell-type composition of tissues can change in disease and this may provide accurate and reproducible biomarkers, not adjusting for the underlying cell-type heterogeneity may seriously limit the sensitivity and precision to detect disease-relevant biomarkers or hamper our understanding of such biomarkers. Given that computational and experimental tools for tackling cell-type heterogeneity are available, we here stress that future epigenetic biomarker studies should aim to provide estimates of underlying cell-type fractions for all samples in the study, and to identify biomarkers before and after adjustment for cell-type heterogeneity, in order to obtain a more complete and unbiased picture of the biomarker-landscape. This is critical, not only to improve reproducibility and for the eventual clinical application of such biomarkers, but importantly, to also improve our molecular understanding of disease itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luo Qi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Andrew E Teschendorff
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China. .,UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 8BT, UK.
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A differential DNA methylome signature of pulmonary immune cells from individuals converting to latent tuberculosis infection. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19418. [PMID: 34593857 PMCID: PMC8484443 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98542-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, spreads via aerosols and the first encounter with the immune system is with the pulmonary-resident immune cells. The role of epigenetic regulations in the immune cells is emerging and we have previously shown that macrophages capacity to kill M. tuberculosis is reflected in the DNA methylome. The aim of this study was to investigate epigenetic modifications in alveolar macrophages and T cells in a cohort of medical students with an increased risk of TB exposure, longitudinally. DNA methylome analysis revealed that a unique DNA methylation profile was present in healthy subjects who later developed latent TB during the study. The profile was reflected in a different overall DNA methylation distribution as well as a distinct set of differentially methylated genes (DMGs). The DMGs were over-represented in pathways related to metabolic reprogramming of macrophages and T cell migration and IFN-γ production, pathways previously reported important in TB control. In conclusion, we identified a unique DNA methylation signature in individuals, with no peripheral immune response to M. tuberculosis antigen who later developed latent TB. Together the study suggests that the DNA methylation status of pulmonary immune cells can reveal who will develop latent TB infection.
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