Epigenomic priming of immune genes implicates oligodendroglia in multiple sclerosis susceptibility
Mandy Meijer, Eneritz Agirre, Mukund Kabbe, Cassandra A. van Tuijn, Abeer Heskol, Chao Zheng, Ana Mendanha Falcão, Marek Bartošovič, Leslie A. Kirby, Daniela Calini, Michael R. Johnson, M. Ryan Corces, Thomas J. Montine, Xingqi Chen, Howard Y. Chang, Dheeraj Malhotra, Gonçalo Castelo‐Branco
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by a targeted attack on oligodendroglia (OLG) and myelin by immune cells, which are thought to be the main drivers of MS susceptibility. We found that immune genes exhibit a primed chromatin state in single mouse and human OLG in a non-disease context, compatible with transitions to immune-competent states in MS. We identified BACH1 and STAT1 as transcription factors involved in immune gene regulation in oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). A subset of immune genes presents bivalency of H3K4me3/H3K27me3 in OPCs, with Polycomb inhibition leading to their increased activation upon interferon gamma (IFN-γ) treatment. Some MS susceptibility single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) overlap with these regulatory regions in mouse and human OLG. Treatment of mouse OPCs with IFN-γ leads to chromatin architecture remodeling at these loci and altered expression of interacting genes. Thus, the susceptibility for MS may involve OLG, which therefore constitutes novel targets for immunological-based therapies for MS.