Monocyte-derived dendritic cells from HLA-B27(+) axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients display altered functional capacity and deregulated gene expression

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to compare the functional capacity and gene expression profile of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MD-DCs) in HLA-B27(+) axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients and healthy controls. METHODS: MD-DCs were differentiated with interleukin 4 (IL-4) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for seven days, starting from purified CD14(+) monocytes and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for six and twenty four hours. Their capacity to stimulate allogeneic CD4(+) T cells from unrelated healthy donor was tested. Transcriptomic study was performed with Affymetrix HuGene 1.0 ST microarrays. Gene expression levels were compared between patients and controls using a multivariate design under a linear model (LIMMA). Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed for validation of the most striking gene expression differences. RESULTS: The stimulatory capacity of allogeneic CD4(+) T cells by MD-DCs from SpA patients was decreased. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 81 genes differentially expressed in MD-DCs between SpA patients and controls (P <0.01 and fold-change <0.66 or >1.5). Four selected genes were validated by qRT-PCR: ADAMTS15, CITED2, F13A1 and SELL. Expression levels of ADAMTS15 and CITED2, encoding a metallopeptidase and a transcription factor, respectively, were inversely correlated with each other (R = 0.75, P = 0.0003). Furthermore, in silico analysis identified several genes of the Wnt signaling pathway having expression co-regulated with CITED2. CONCLUSION: This study revealed altered function and gene expression pattern in MD-DCs from HLA-B27(+) axial SpA. Co-expression study showed an inverse correlation between ADAMTS15 and CITED2. Moreover, the Wnt signaling pathway appeared as deregulated in SpA MD-DCs, a finding which may be connected to Th17-driven inflammatory responses. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13075-014-0417-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.