Human autoinflammatory disease reveals ELF4 as a transcriptional regulator of inflammation

Paul M. Tyler; Molly L. Bucklin; Mengting Zhao; Timothy J. Maher; Andrew J. Rice; Weizhen Ji; Neil Warner; Jie Pan; Raffaella Morotti; Paul McCarthy; Anne Griffiths; Annemarie M.C. van Rossum; Iris H.I.M. Hollink; Virgil A.S.H. Dalm; Jason Catanzaro; Saquib A. Lakhani; Aleixo M. Muise; Carrie L. Lucas

doi:10.1038/s41590-021-00984-4

Human autoinflammatory disease reveals ELF4 as a transcriptional regulator of inflammation

Paul M. Tyler, Molly L. Bucklin, Mengting Zhao, Timothy J. Maher, Andrew J. Rice, Weizhen Ji, Neil Warner, Jie Pan, Raffaella Morotti, Paul McCarthy, Anne Griffiths, Annemarie M.C. van Rossum, Iris H.I.M. Hollink, Virgil A.S.H. Dalm, Jason Catanzaro, Saquib A. Lakhani, Aleixo M. Muise, Carrie L. Lucas^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Transcription factors specialized to limit the destructive potential of inflammatory immune cells remain ill-defined. We discovered loss-of-function variants in the X-linked ETS transcription factor gene ELF4 in multiple unrelated male patients with early onset mucosal autoinflammation and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characteristics, including fevers and ulcers that responded to interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor or IL-12p40 blockade. Using cells from patients and newly generated mouse models, we uncovered ELF4-mutant macrophages having hyperinflammatory responses to a range of innate stimuli. In mouse macrophages, Elf4 both sustained the expression of anti-inflammatory genes, such as Il1rn, and limited the upregulation of inflammation amplifiers, including S100A8, Lcn2, Trem1 and neutrophil chemoattractants. Blockade of Trem1 reversed inflammation and intestine pathology after in vivo lipopolysaccharide challenge in mice carrying patient-derived variants in Elf4. Thus, ELF4 restrains inflammation and protects against mucosal disease, a discovery with broad translational relevance for human inflammatory disorders such as IBD.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1118-1126
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Immunology
Volume	22
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-021-00984-4
Publication status	Published - 29 Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the patients and their families for participating in the research and all clinical care staff for their contributions. We also thank P. Schwartzberg, P.-P. Axisa and J.-M. Carpier for critical feedback. We thank Prometheus for providing recombinant IL-2 used in T cell culture experiments and the Yale Cancer Center for support. We thank Yale New Haven Hospital and S. Bluell and J. Buell for their support of the Pediatric Genomics Discovery Program. C.L.L. is funded by the Mathers Foundation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (grant no. R01AI150913), Immune Deficiency Foundation, Hood Foundation and Yale University. A.M.M. is funded by a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Pediatric IBD, Canadian Institute of Health Research Foundation Grant, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (grant no. RC2DK118640) and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8985851/

Cite this

Tyler, P. M., Bucklin, M. L., Zhao, M., Maher, T. J., Rice, A. J., Ji, W., Warner, N., Pan, J., Morotti, R., McCarthy, P., Griffiths, A., van Rossum, A. M. C., Hollink, I. H. I. M., Dalm, V. A. S. H., Catanzaro, J., Lakhani, S. A., Muise, A. M., & Lucas, C. L. (2021). Human autoinflammatory disease reveals ELF4 as a transcriptional regulator of inflammation. Nature Immunology, 22(9), 1118-1126. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-021-00984-4

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abstract = "Transcription factors specialized to limit the destructive potential of inflammatory immune cells remain ill-defined. We discovered loss-of-function variants in the X-linked ETS transcription factor gene ELF4 in multiple unrelated male patients with early onset mucosal autoinflammation and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characteristics, including fevers and ulcers that responded to interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor or IL-12p40 blockade. Using cells from patients and newly generated mouse models, we uncovered ELF4-mutant macrophages having hyperinflammatory responses to a range of innate stimuli. In mouse macrophages, Elf4 both sustained the expression of anti-inflammatory genes, such as Il1rn, and limited the upregulation of inflammation amplifiers, including S100A8, Lcn2, Trem1 and neutrophil chemoattractants. Blockade of Trem1 reversed inflammation and intestine pathology after in vivo lipopolysaccharide challenge in mice carrying patient-derived variants in Elf4. Thus, ELF4 restrains inflammation and protects against mucosal disease, a discovery with broad translational relevance for human inflammatory disorders such as IBD.",

author = "Tyler, {Paul M.} and Bucklin, {Molly L.} and Mengting Zhao and Maher, {Timothy J.} and Rice, {Andrew J.} and Weizhen Ji and Neil Warner and Jie Pan and Raffaella Morotti and Paul McCarthy and Anne Griffiths and {van Rossum}, {Annemarie M.C.} and Hollink, {Iris H.I.M.} and Dalm, {Virgil A.S.H.} and Jason Catanzaro and Lakhani, {Saquib A.} and Muise, {Aleixo M.} and Lucas, {Carrie L.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the patients and their families for participating in the research and all clinical care staff for their contributions. We also thank P. Schwartzberg, P.-P. Axisa and J.-M. Carpier for critical feedback. We thank Prometheus for providing recombinant IL-2 used in T cell culture experiments and the Yale Cancer Center for support. We thank Yale New Haven Hospital and S. Bluell and J. Buell for their support of the Pediatric Genomics Discovery Program. C.L.L. is funded by the Mathers Foundation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (grant no. R01AI150913), Immune Deficiency Foundation, Hood Foundation and Yale University. A.M.M. is funded by a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Pediatric IBD, Canadian Institute of Health Research Foundation Grant, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (grant no. RC2DK118640) and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.",

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Tyler, PM, Bucklin, ML, Zhao, M, Maher, TJ, Rice, AJ, Ji, W, Warner, N, Pan, J, Morotti, R, McCarthy, P, Griffiths, A, van Rossum, AMC , Hollink, IHIM , Dalm, VASH, Catanzaro, J, Lakhani, SA, Muise, AM & Lucas, CL 2021, 'Human autoinflammatory disease reveals ELF4 as a transcriptional regulator of inflammation', Nature Immunology, vol. 22, no. 9, pp. 1118-1126. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-021-00984-4

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AU - Bucklin, Molly L.

AU - Zhao, Mengting

AU - Maher, Timothy J.

AU - Rice, Andrew J.

AU - Ji, Weizhen

AU - Warner, Neil

AU - Pan, Jie

AU - Morotti, Raffaella

AU - McCarthy, Paul

AU - Griffiths, Anne

AU - van Rossum, Annemarie M.C.

AU - Hollink, Iris H.I.M.

AU - Dalm, Virgil A.S.H.

AU - Catanzaro, Jason

AU - Lakhani, Saquib A.

AU - Muise, Aleixo M.

AU - Lucas, Carrie L.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the patients and their families for participating in the research and all clinical care staff for their contributions. We also thank P. Schwartzberg, P.-P. Axisa and J.-M. Carpier for critical feedback. We thank Prometheus for providing recombinant IL-2 used in T cell culture experiments and the Yale Cancer Center for support. We thank Yale New Haven Hospital and S. Bluell and J. Buell for their support of the Pediatric Genomics Discovery Program. C.L.L. is funded by the Mathers Foundation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (grant no. R01AI150913), Immune Deficiency Foundation, Hood Foundation and Yale University. A.M.M. is funded by a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Pediatric IBD, Canadian Institute of Health Research Foundation Grant, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (grant no. RC2DK118640) and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.

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N2 - Transcription factors specialized to limit the destructive potential of inflammatory immune cells remain ill-defined. We discovered loss-of-function variants in the X-linked ETS transcription factor gene ELF4 in multiple unrelated male patients with early onset mucosal autoinflammation and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characteristics, including fevers and ulcers that responded to interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor or IL-12p40 blockade. Using cells from patients and newly generated mouse models, we uncovered ELF4-mutant macrophages having hyperinflammatory responses to a range of innate stimuli. In mouse macrophages, Elf4 both sustained the expression of anti-inflammatory genes, such as Il1rn, and limited the upregulation of inflammation amplifiers, including S100A8, Lcn2, Trem1 and neutrophil chemoattractants. Blockade of Trem1 reversed inflammation and intestine pathology after in vivo lipopolysaccharide challenge in mice carrying patient-derived variants in Elf4. Thus, ELF4 restrains inflammation and protects against mucosal disease, a discovery with broad translational relevance for human inflammatory disorders such as IBD.

AB - Transcription factors specialized to limit the destructive potential of inflammatory immune cells remain ill-defined. We discovered loss-of-function variants in the X-linked ETS transcription factor gene ELF4 in multiple unrelated male patients with early onset mucosal autoinflammation and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characteristics, including fevers and ulcers that responded to interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor or IL-12p40 blockade. Using cells from patients and newly generated mouse models, we uncovered ELF4-mutant macrophages having hyperinflammatory responses to a range of innate stimuli. In mouse macrophages, Elf4 both sustained the expression of anti-inflammatory genes, such as Il1rn, and limited the upregulation of inflammation amplifiers, including S100A8, Lcn2, Trem1 and neutrophil chemoattractants. Blockade of Trem1 reversed inflammation and intestine pathology after in vivo lipopolysaccharide challenge in mice carrying patient-derived variants in Elf4. Thus, ELF4 restrains inflammation and protects against mucosal disease, a discovery with broad translational relevance for human inflammatory disorders such as IBD.

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Human autoinflammatory disease reveals ELF4 as a transcriptional regulator of inflammation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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