The Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Gene AIRE Is Induced by Cytokines in Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes and Augments the Pro-inflammatory Response

In this study, we identified AIRE as a cytokine-induced RA risk gene in RA FLS and explored its role in these pathogenic stroma cells. Using RNA interference and RNA sequencing we show that AIRE does not induce TRAs in FLS, but augments the pro-inflammatory response induced by tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1beta by promoting the transcription of a set of genes associated with systemic autoimmune disease and annotated as interferon-gamma regulated genes. In particular, AIRE promoted the production and secretion of a set of chemokines, amongst them CXCL10, which have been associated with disease activity in RA. Finally, we demonstrate that AIRE is expressed in podoplanin positive FLS in the lining layer of synovial tissue from RA patients. These findings support a novel pro-inflammatory role of AIRE at peripheral inflammatory sites and provide a potential pathological mechanism for its association with RA.
Source: Frontiers in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research