P234 Characterisation of human synovial tissue dendritic cells in rheumatoid arthritis patients
Authors: Elmesmari Aziza , MacDonald Lucy , Vaughan Diane , Tolusso Barbara , Bui Laura , Gigante Maria Rita , Federico Francesco , Ferraccioli Gianfranco , Gremese Elisa , McInnes Iain B , Alivernini Stefano , Kurowska-Stolarska Mariola 
Published: April 2020

Background

Dendritic cells (DCs) direct immune responses against pathogens while maintaining tolerance to self-antigens. However, their aberrant activation can lead to autoimmunity and inflammation. DCs consist of two subtypes: plasmacytoid and myeloid DCs. Recently, single-cell sequencing has revealed complex heterogeneity within myeloid DCs. These cells can be divided into CD141pos (DC1), DC2 defined as CD1highCD163neg and DC3 defined as CD1clowCD163high. In addition, a population of CD1cnegCD141negCD16pos (DC4), which share some gene expression with CD16pos monocytes, has been identified. To date, most studies of RA investigated DC precursors in circulation or synovial fluid (SF). However, DCs perform their functions within lymphoid or peripheral tissue. Therefore, in this study, we sought to characterise myeloid DC subsets in synovial tissue (ST) with the prospect of better understanding their role in driving autoimmunity in RA.

Methods

We developed a flow sorting strategy to characterise the phenotype of distinct myeloid DC subsets in multiple biological compartments (PB, SF, and ST). Ultrasound-guided ST biopsies (RA n = 9; Psoriatic arthritis n = 3 with active disease) were digested with liberase prior to analysis. PB DCs (RA n = 19, Psoriatic arthritis n = 16, healthy donors n = 12), and SF DC (n = 3) were used as comparators. ST, SF and PB DCs were sorted then microRNA, pro-inflammatory and regulatory cytokine expression analysed by amplified qPCR. To evaluate the role of miR-155 in RA CD1cpos DC activation, CD1cpos cells were computationally sub-setted from a scRNAseq synovial dataset comparing synovial tissues of healthy individuals (n = 4) with patients with active RA (n = 7) and those in sustained clinical and ultrasound remission (n = 7). To elucidate the role of miR-155, CD1cpos DC from RA patients (n = 10) were sorted then transfected with miR-155 mimic or control mimic and the cytokines expression and produced were evaluated using quantitative RT-PCR and Luminex, respectively.

Results

Our data revealed that whilst all myeloid DCs subsets can be present in inflamed RA synovium they occur with variable frequencies. CD1cpos (DC2/3) being the most abundant, followed by CD16pos DCs (DC4), whilst CD141pos DCs (DC1) occur in low numbers or are absent. CD1cpos DC sorted from RA ST express high levels of epigenetic regulators of inflammatory response miR-155, IL-6, TNF-a and IL-23 as compared to circulating cells.Unsupervised clustering of synovial CD1c cells identified 4 separate clusters including a distinctive miR155 positive CD1c cluster in RA patients. These cells showed significantly higher expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and co-stimulatory molecules compared to other synovial CD1c clusters. Overexpression of miR-155 in CD1cpos leads to increased production of TNF-a and IL-23.

Conclusion

Our data show that miR-155 is strongly implicated as an epigenetic regulator of the pro-inflammatory synovial CD1cpos DCs sub-cluster and contributes to exacerbating RA.

Disclosures

A. Elmesmari None. L. MacDonald None. D. Vaughan None. B. Tolusso None. L. Bui None. M. Gigante None. F. Federico None. G. Ferraccioli None. E. Gremese None. I. B McInnes None. S. Alivernini None. M. Kurowska-Stolarska None.