Ulcerative colitis mucosal transcriptomes reveal mitochondriopathy and personalized mechanisms underlying disease severity and treatment response

Yael Haberman, Rebekah Karns, Phillip J. Dexheimer, Melanie Schirmer, Judith Somekh, Ingrid Jurickova, Tzipi Braun, Elizabeth Novak, Laura Bauman, Margaret H. Collins, Angela Mo, Michael J. Rosen, Erin Bonkowski, Nathan Gotman, Alison Marquis, Mason Nistel, Paul A. Rufo, Susan S. Baker, Cary G. Sauer, James MarkowitzMarian D. Pfefferkorn, Joel R. Rosh, Brendan M. Boyle, David R. Mack, Robert N. Baldassano, Sapana Shah, Neal S. Leleiko, Melvin B. Heyman, Anne M. Grifiths, Ashish S. Patel, Joshua D. Noe, Bruce J. Aronow, Subra Kugathasan, Thomas D. Walters, Greg Gibson, Sonia Davis Thomas, Kevin Mollen, Shai Shen-Orr, Curtis Huttenhower, Ramnik J. Xavier, Jeffrey S. Hyams, Lee A. Denson*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

208 Scopus citations

Abstract

Molecular mechanisms driving disease course and response to therapy in ulcerative colitis (UC) are not well understood. Here, we use RNAseq to define pre-treatment rectal gene expression, and fecal microbiota profiles, in 206 pediatric UC patients receiving standardised therapy. We validate our key findings in adult and paediatric UC cohorts of 408 participants. We observe a marked suppression of mitochondrial genes and function across cohorts in active UC, and that increasing disease severity is notable for enrichment of adenoma/adenocarcinoma and innate immune genes. A subset of severity genes improves prediction of corticosteroid-induced remission in the discovery cohort; this gene signature is also associated with response to anti-TNFα and anti-α 4 β 7 integrin in adults. The severity and therapeutic response gene signatures were in turn associated with shifts in microbes previously implicated in mucosal homeostasis. Our data provide insights into UC pathogenesis, and may prioritise future therapies for nonresponders to current approaches.

Original languageEnglish
Article number38
JournalNature Communications
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2019

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney DiseasesK08DK101753
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Engineering Research Centers758313
Engineering Research Centers
Israel Science Foundation908/15
Israel Science Foundation
Israeli Centers for Research Excellence41/11
Israeli Centers for Research Excellence

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