MS AHI1 genetic risk promotes IFNγ⁺ CD4⁺ T cells

Objective To study the influence of the Abelson helper integration site 1 (AHI1) locus associated with MS susceptibility on CD4⁺ T cell function. Methods We characterized the chromatin state of T cells in the MS-associated AHI1 linkage disequilibrium (LD) block. The expression and the role of the AHI1 variant were examined in T cells from genotyped healthy subjects who were recruited from the PhenoGenetic Project, and the function of AHI1 was explored using T cells from Ahi1 knockout mice. Results Chromatin state analysis reveals that the LD block containing rs4896153, which is robustly associated with MS susceptibility (odds ratio 1.15, p = 1.65 × 10^-13), overlaps with strong enhancer regions that are present in human naive and memory CD4⁺ T cells. Relative to the rs4896153 A protective allele, the rs4896153 T susceptibility allele is associated with decreased AHI1 mRNA expression, specifically in naive CD4⁺ T cells (p = 1.73 × 10^-74, n = 213), and we replicate this effect in an independent set of subjects (p = 2.5 × 10^-9, n = 32). Functional studies then showed that the rs4896153 T risk variant and the subsequent decreased AHI1 expression were associated with reduced CD4⁺ T cell proliferation and a specific differentiation into interferon gamma (IFNγ)-positive T cells when compared with the protective rs4896153 A allele. This T cell phenotype was also observed in murine CD4⁺ T cells with genetic deletion of Ahi1. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the effect of the AHI1 genetic risk for MS is mediated, in part, by enhancing the development of proinflammatory IFNγ + T cells that have previously been implicated in MS and its mouse models.