Methylome characterization of CD4+ T cells in multiple sclerosis — Establishing a role for miR-21 in autoimmune disease

Evidence for methylation changes in CD4+ T cells and brain tissue of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy controls (HC) strongly suggests a role for epigenetics in disease pathogenesis. We here sought to identify methylation changes in one of the key players in MS disease, CD4+ T cells, between MS patients and HC. The CD4+ T cells were sorted using a MoFlow sorter from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from MS cases and HC. DNA extracted from the CD4+ T cells was subjected to genome-wide DNA methylation quantification using Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450K Bead chip. The top scoring changes in DNA methylation between groups were confirmed using bisulfite pyrosequencing and miRNA expression was detected by TaqMan microRNA-assay.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2014.08.301