Abstract
Background: Viruses may drive immune mechanisms responsible for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP), but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Objectives: To identify epigenetic and transcriptional responses to a common upper respiratory pathogen, rhinovirus (RV), that are specific to patients with CRSwNP using a primary sinonasal epithelial cell culture model. Methods: Airway epithelial cells were collected at surgery from patients with CRSwNP (cases) and from controls without sinus disease, cultured, and then exposed to RV or vehicle for 48 h. Differential gene expression and DNA methylation (DNAm) between cases and controls in response to RV were determined using linear mixed models. Weighted gene co-expression analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify (a) co-regulated gene expression and DNAm signatures, and (b) genes, pathways, and regulatory mechanisms specific to CRSwNP. Results: We identified 5585 differential transcriptional and 261 DNAm responses (FDR <0.10) to RV between CRSwNP cases and controls. These differential responses formed three co-expression/co-methylation modules that were related to CRSwNP and three that were related to RV (Bonferroni corrected p <.01). Most (95%) of the differentially methylated CpGs (DMCs) were in modules related to CRSwNP, whereas the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were more equally distributed between the CRSwNP- and RV-related modules. Genes in the CRSwNP-related modules were enriched in known CRS and/or viral response immune pathways. Conclusion: RV activates specific epigenetic programs and correlated transcriptional networks in the sinonasal epithelium of individuals with CRSwNP. These novel observations suggest epigenetic signatures specific to patients with CRSwNP modulate response to viral pathogens at the mucosal environmental interface. Determining how viral response pathways are involved in epithelial inflammation in CRSwNP could lead to therapeutic targets for this burdensome airway disorder.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 2698-2711 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology |
Volume | 78 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2023 |
Funding
This work was supported by NIH grants U19 AI106683, R01 HL129735, and by the Ernest S. Bazley Charitable Fund. A.K.'s research was supported in part by NIH R01 AI104733, R01 AI137174, R37 HL068546, U19 AI106683, and P01 AI145818. M.M.S. was supported by NIH T32 GM07197. This work was supported by NIH grants U19 AI106683 and R01 HL129735. M.M.S. was supported in part by T32 GM007197.
Keywords
- DNA methylation
- airway epithelium
- chronic rhinosinusitis
- gene expression
- nasal polyposis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology