No differential gene expression for CD4+ T cells of MS patients and healthy controls

Background Multiple sclerosis-associated genetic variants indicate that the adaptive immune system plays an important role in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis. It is currently not well understood how these multiple sclerosis-associated genetic variants contribute to multiple sclerosis risk. CD4+ T cells are suggested to be involved in multiple sclerosis disease processes. Objective We aim to identify CD4+ T cell differential gene expression between multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls in order to understand better the role of these cells in multiple sclerosis. Methods We applied RNA sequencing on CD4+ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls. Results We did not identify significantly differentially expressed genes in CD4+ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients. Furthermore, pathway analyses did not identify enrichment for specific pathways in multiple sclerosis. When we investigated genes near multiple sclerosis-associated genetic variants, we did not observe significant enrichment of differentially expressed genes. Conclusion We conclude that CD4+ T cells from multiple sclerosis patients do not show significant differential gene expression. Therefore, gene expression studies of all circulating CD4+ T cells may not result in viable biomarkers. Gene expression studies of more specific subsets of CD4+ T cells remain justified to understand better which CD4+ T cell subsets contribute to multiple sclerosis pathology.