Objective During the course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) are chronically exposed to an inflammatory milieu. In the current study we test the hypothesis that chronic exposure of FLS to TNFα augments inflammatory responses to secondary stimuli (priming effect). Methods FLS obtained from RA patients were chronically exposed to TNFα (3 days) and then were stimulated with interferons (IFNs). Expression of IFN-target genes was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Total STAT1 protein and IFN-mediated STAT1 activation were evaluated by Western blotting. Total histone levels, histone acetylation, NF-κB p65 and RNA polymerase II (pol II) recruitment were measured at the promoter of CXCL10 (encodes IP-10) by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Results Prolonged pre-exposure of FLS to TNFα enhanced the magnitude and extended the kinetics of CXCL10/IP-10, CXCL9/MIG and CXCL11/ITAC production upon subsequent IFN stimulation. This phenotype was retained over a period of days even after the removal of TNFα. Prolonged TNFα decreased histone levels, increased acetylation of the remaining histones, and heightened recruitment of NF-κB p65 and pol II to the CXCL10 promoter. In parallel, an increase in intracellular STAT1 led to amplification of IFN-induced STAT1 activation. Conclusions Our study reveals a novel pathogenic function of TNFα, namely prolonged and gene-specific priming of FLS for enhanced transcription of inflammatory chemokine genes due to priming of chromatin, sustained activation of NF-κB, and amplification of STAT1 activation downstream of IFNs. These data also suggest that FLS gain an “inflammatory memory” upon chronic exposure to TNFα.

Objective To test the a priori hypothesis that acute and chronic work exposures to the World Trade Center (WTC) site on or after September 11, 2001 were associated with risk of new-onset systemic autoimmune diseases. Methods A nested case–control study was performed in WTC rescue/recovery workers who had received a rheumatologist-confirmed systemic auto-immune disease diagnosis between September 12, 2001 and September 11, 2013 (n = 59), each of whom was individually matched to 4 randomly selected controls (n = 236) on the basis of year of hire (±1 year), sex, race, and work assignment (firefighter or emergency medical service). Acute exposure was defined according to the earliest time of arrival (morning of 9/11 versus later) at the WTC site, and chronic exposure was defined as duration (number of months) of WTC site–related work. Rheumatologists were blinded with regard to each subject’s exposure status. The conditional odds ratios (CORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for incident autoimmune disease were derived from exact conditional logistic regression models. Results Rheumatoid arthritis was the most common autoimmune diagnosis (37% of subjects), followed by spondyloarthritis (22%), inflammatory myositis (14%), systemic lupus erythematosus (12%), systemic sclerosis (5%), Sjogren’s syndrome (5%), antiphospholipid syndrome (3%), and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener’s) (2%). The COR for incident autoimmune disease increased by 13% (COR 1.13, 95% CI 1.02–1.26) for each additional month worked at the WTC site. These odds were independent of the association between high acute exposure (working during the morning of 9/11) and disease outcome, which conveyed an elevated, but not statistically significant, risk (COR 1.85, 95% CI 0.86–3.89). Conclusion Prolonged work at the WTC site, independent of acute exposure, was an important predictor of post-9/11 systemic autoimmune diseases. The WTC Health Program should expand surveillance efforts for those with extended exposures, as early detection can facilitate early treatment, which has been shown to minimize organ damage and improve quality of life.

During rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) activates fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) inducing in a temporal order a constellation of genes, which perpetuate synovial inflammation. Although the molecular mechanisms regulating TNF-induced transcription are well characterized, little is known about the impact of mRNA stability on gene expression and the impact of TNF on decay rates of mRNA transcripts in FLS. To address these issues we performed RNA sequencing and genome-wide analysis of the mRNA stabilome in RA FLS. We found that TNF induces a biphasic gene expression program: initially, the inducible transcriptome consists primarily of unstable transcripts but progressively switches and becomes dominated by very stable transcripts. This temporal switch is due to: a) TNF-induced prolonged stabilization of previously unstable transcripts that enables progressive transcript accumulation over days and b) sustained expression and late induction of very stable transcripts. TNF-induced mRNA stabilization in RA FLS occurs during the late phase of TNF response, is MAPK-dependent, and involves several genes with pathogenic potential such as IL6, CXCL1, CXCL3, CXCL8/IL8, CCL2, and PTGS2. These results provide the first insights into genome-wide regulation of mRNA stability in RA FLS and highlight the potential contribution of dynamic regulation of the mRNA stabilome by TNF to chronic synovitis.

KLK4, a serine esterase with putative renoprotective properties, is down-regulated by miR-422a in LN kidney suggesting that, in addition to immune activation, local factors may be implicated in the disease.