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SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

B cell X-chromosome inactivation is faulty in SLE

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 17, page 442 (2021)Cite this article

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Dysfunctional maintenance of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) in B cells could help to explain the strong sex bias in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis and single-cell immunofluorescence profiling of B cells from patients with SLE has revealed how epigenetic changes to the inactive X chromosome in these cells can cause X-linked immunity-related genes to escape XCI and be aberrantly expressed. Notably, these changes were found in cells from both adults and children with SLE, suggesting a mechanism of sex bias that is not influenced by sex hormones.

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References

Original article

  • Pyfrom, S. et al. The dynamic epigenetic regulation of the inactive X chromosome in healthy human B cells is dysregulated in lupus patients. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2024624118 (2021)

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  1. Nature Reviews Rheumatology http://www.nature.com/nrrheum/

    Joanna Clarke

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  1. Joanna Clarke
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Correspondence to Joanna Clarke.

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Clarke, J. B cell X-chromosome inactivation is faulty in SLE. Nat Rev Rheumatol 17, 442 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-021-00660-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-021-00660-9

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