Journal
JCI INSIGHT
Volume 4, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
AMER SOC CLINICAL INVESTIGATION INC
DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.127291
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Funding
- A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute's Taubman Institute Innovation Projects program
- Parfet Emerging Scholar Award
- Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg Emerging Scholar Award
- University of Michigan Babcock Endowment Fund
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the NIH [5T32AR007197-40, K01AR072129, R01-AR071384, R01-AR069071, P50-AR070590, R01-AR062546, R01-AR063437, R01-AR073196]
- Office of the Director of the NIH [S10-OD020053]
- Rogel Cancer Center Support Grant [NIH P30-CA046592]
- National Science Foundation [1511720, 1645229, 1653611]
- Rheumatology Research Foundation Innovative Research Award
- Dermatology Foundation
- Arthritis National Research Foundation
- National Psoriasis Foundation
- Directorate For Engineering [1653611, 1511720, 1645229] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys [1653611, 1645229, 1511720] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Autoimmune disease is 4 times more common in women than men. This bias is largely unexplained. Female skin is autoimmunity prone, showing upregulation of many proinflammatory genes, even in healthy women. We previously identified VGLL3 as a putative transcription cofactor enriched in female skin. Here, we demonstrate that skin-directed overexpression of murine VGLL3 causes a severe lupus-like rash and systemic autoimmune disease that involves B cell expansion, autoantibody production, immune complex deposition, and end-organ damage, Excess epidermal VGLL3 drives a proinflammatory gene expression program that overlaps with both female skin and cutaneous lupus. This includes increased B cellactivating factor (BAFF), the only current biologic target in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); IFN-kappa, a key inflammatory mediator in cutaneous lupus; and CXCL13, a biomarker of early-onset SLE and renal involvement. Our results demonstrate that skin-targeted overexpression of the female-biased factor VGLL3 is sufficient to drive cutaneous and systemic autoimmune disease that is strikingly similar to SLE. This work strongly implicates VGLL3 as a pivotal orchestrator of sex-biased autoimmunity.
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