Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1) is caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene. Most patients present with severe chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis and organ-specific autoimmunity from early childhood, but the clinical picture is highly variable. AIRE is crucial for negative selection of T cells, and scrutiny of different patient mutations has previously highlighted many of its molecular mechanisms. In patients with a milder adult-onset phenotype sharing a mutation in the canonical donor splice site of intron 7 (c.879+1G>A), both the predicted altered splicing pattern with loss of exon 7 (AireEx7–/–) and normal full-length AIRE mRNA were found, indicating leaky rather than abolished mRNA splicing. Analysis of a corresponding mouse model demonstrated that the AireEx7–/– mutant had dramatically impaired transcriptional capacity of tissue-specific antigens in medullary thymic epithelial cells but still retained some ability to induce gene expression compared with the complete loss-of-function AireC313X–/– mutant. Our data illustrate an association between AIRE activity and the severity of autoimmune disease, with implications for more common autoimmune diseases associated with AIRE variants, such as primary adrenal insufficiency, pernicious anemia, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Bergithe Eikeland Oftedal, Amund Holte Berger, Øyvind Bruserud, Yael Goldfarb, Andre Sulen, Lars Breivik, Alexander Hellesen, Shifra Ben-Dor, Rebecca Haffner-Krausz, Per M. Knappskog, Stefan Johansson, Anette S.B. Wolff, Eirik Bratland, Jakub Abramson, Eystein Sverre Husebye
Usage data is cumulative from November 2023 through May 2024.
Usage | JCI | PMC |
---|---|---|
Text version | 1,764 | 265 |
457 | 90 | |
Figure | 596 | 2 |
Table | 99 | 0 |
Supplemental data | 75 | 3 |
Citation downloads | 43 | 0 |
Totals | 3,034 | 360 |
Total Views | 3,394 |
Usage information is collected from two different sources: this site (JCI) and Pubmed Central (PMC). JCI information (compiled daily) shows human readership based on methods we employ to screen out robotic usage. PMC information (aggregated monthly) is also similarly screened of robotic usage.
Various methods are used to distinguish robotic usage. For example, Google automatically scans articles to add to its search index and identifies itself as robotic; other services might not clearly identify themselves as robotic, or they are new or unknown as robotic. Because this activity can be misinterpreted as human readership, data may be re-processed periodically to reflect an improved understanding of robotic activity. Because of these factors, readers should consider usage information illustrative but subject to change.