mTB-dependent monocyte expression...

Senior Bioinformatician, Dr. Kim Dill-McFarland, "Cracking the human-TB code: monocyte eQTLs reveal insights into TB pathogenesis and host cytokine responses"

The heterogeneity of outcomes after Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) exposure is a conundrum associated with millennia of host-pathogen co-evolution. We hypothesized that human myeloid cells contain genetically encoded, Mtb-specific responses that regulate critical steps in tuberculosis (TB) pathogenesis.

The team mapped genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in Mtb-infected monocytes with RNAseq from 80 Ugandan household contacts of pulmonary TB cases to identify monocyte-specific, Mtb-dependent eQTLs and their association with cytokine expression and clinical resistance to tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) conversion.

Their findings suggest that monocyte genes contain Mtb-dependent eQTLs, including a subset associated with cytokine expression and/or clinical resistance to TST/IGRA conversion, providing insight into immunogenetic pathways regulating susceptibility to Mtb infection and TB pathogenesis.

Find full article: Frontiers | Mycobacterium tuberculosis-dependent monocyte expression quantitative trait loci, cytokine production, and TB pathogenesis (frontiersin.org)