Omer S Omer, Arnulf Hertweck, Luke B Roberts, Jonathan W Lo, Jennie N Clough, Ian Jackson, Eirini D Pantazi, Peter M Irving, Tom T MacDonald, Polychronis Pavlidis, Richard G Jenner, Graham M Lord
Published in June 2022, Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Background & Aims
Resistance to single cytokine blockade, namely anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy, is a growing concern for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The transcription factor T-bet is a critical regulator of intestinal homeostasis, is genetically linked to mucosal inflammation and controls the expression of multiples genes such as the pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon (IFN)-γ and TNF. Inhibiting T-bet may therefore offer a more attractive prospect for treating IBD but remains challenging to target therapeutically. In this study, we evaluate the effect of targeting the transactivation function of T-bet using inhibitors of P-TEFb (CDK9-cyclin T), a transcriptional elongation factor downstream of T-bet.
Methods
Using an adaptive immune-mediated colitis model, human colonic lymphocytes from patients with IBD and multiple large clinical datasets, we investigate the effect of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibitors on cytokine production and gene expression in colonic CD4+ T cells and link these genetic modules to clinical response in patients with IBD.
Results
Systemic CDK9 inhibition led to histological improvement of immune-mediated colitis and was associated with targeted suppression of colonic CD4+ T cell-derived IFN-γ and IL-17A. In colonic lymphocytes from patients with IBD, CDK9 inhibition potently repressed genes responsible for pro-inflammatory signalling, and in particular genes regulated by T-bet. Remarkably, CDK9 inhibition targeted genes that were highly expressed in anti-TNF resistant IBD and that predicted non-response to anti-TNF therapy.
Conclusion
Collectively, our findings reveal CDK9 as a potential target for anti-TNF-resistant IBD, which has the potential for rapid translation to the clinic.
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