Glycolytic reprogramming shapes the epigenetic landscape of activated CD4+ T Cells in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Abstract

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) describes a heterogeneous group of autoimmune conditions with an unknown cause and childhood onset. It is characterized by the accumulation of mononuclear cells, notably activated CD4+ memory/effector T (Tmem/Teff) cells, within the synovial fluid of affected joints. JIA CD4+ T cells exhibit a unique epigenomic signature linked to inflammation, however, the molecular mechanisms driving this remain unclear. Here we show that CD4+ T cells isolated from JIA synovial fluid (SF) exhibit abnormal intracellular metabolism marked by heightened glycolysis after activation driving transcriptional reprogramming. Epigenetic profiling between activated healthy controls and JIA patients allowed the definition of specific disease-related enhancers upregulated in SF-derived JIA CD4+ T cells. Pharmacological inhibition of glycolytic flux affected the expression of genes associated with these enhancers. When activated in the presence of JIA SF, CD4+ T cells obtained from healthy control (HC) subjects, displayed heightened glycolytic activity compared to paired plasma. Moreover, this also led to increased H3K27ac at JIA-specific genes. Increased H3K27ac was dependent on glycolytic flux, but not oxidative phosphorylation. Inhibition of glycolysis also specifically affected the transcription of genes upregulated during T cell activation in the presence of SF. Inhibiting the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) reduced JIA-associated gene expression. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that for JIA, the inflammatory microenvironment can modulate T cell activation-driven transcriptional programs through a glycolysis-mediated pathway. Specific targeting of this T cell metabolism-epigenetic axis may provide avenues for intervention during the development of autoinflammatory disease.