The autoimmune disease-associated il2ra locus is involved in the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis

The autoimmune disease-associated il2ra locus is involved in the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis

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ABSTRACT Regulatory T cells (_T_regs) are crucial in the maintenance of the immune tolerance and seem to have an important role in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The interleukin 2 receptor α (IL2RA) is an important Treg marker, and polymorphisms of _IL2RA_ gene are associated with a number of autoimmune diseases. Therefore, we aimed to investigate for the first time the association of the _IL2RA_ locus in SSc. For this purpose, a total of 3023 SSc patients and 2735 matched healthy controls, from six European Caucasian cohorts, were genotyped for the _IL2RA_ gene variants rs11594656, rs2104286 and rs12722495 using the TaqMan allelic discrimination technology. The overall meta-analysis reached statistical significance when the three polymorphisms were tested for association with SSc, the limited subtype (lcSSc) and anti-centromere auto-antibodies (ACAs). However, no significant _P_-values were obtained when the ACA-positive patients were removed from the SSc and lcSSc groups, suggesting that these associations rely on ACA positivity. The strongest association signal with ACA production was detected for rs2104286 (_P_FDR=2.07 × 10−4, odds ratio=1.30 (1.14–1.47)). The associations of rs11594656 and rs12722495 were lost after conditioning to rs2104286, and allelic combination tests did not evidence a combined effect, indicating that rs2104286 best described the association between _IL2RA_ and ACA presence in SSc. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 6 digital issues and online access to articles $119.00 per year only $19.83 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS LACK OF ASSOCIATION OF THE PLD4 SNP RS2841277 WITH SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS IN A EUROPEAN AMERICAN POPULATION Article Open access 28 December 2024 SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS GENETICS: INSIGHTS INTO PATHOGENESIS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPY Article 04 September 2024 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF HLA CLASS II ASSOCIATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH IGG4 AUTOIMMUNITY Article Open access 02 June 2022 REFERENCES * Malek TR . The biology of interleukin-2. _Annu Rev Immunol_ 2008; 26: 453–479. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Burchill MA, Yang J, Vang KB, Farrar MA . Interleukin-2 receptor signaling in regulatory T cell development and homeostasis. _Immunol Lett_ 2007; 114: 1–8. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Buckner JH . Mechanisms of impaired regulation by CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) regulatory T cells in human autoimmune diseases. _Nat Rev Immunol_ 2010; 10: 849–859. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Lowe CE, Cooper JD, Brusko T, Walker NM, Smyth DJ, Bailey R _et al_. Large-scale genetic fine mapping and genotype-phenotype associations implicate polymorphism in the IL2RA region in type 1 diabetes. _Nat Genet_ 2007; 39: 1074–1082. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Stahl EA, Raychaudhuri S, Remmers EF, Xie G, Eyre S, Thomson BP _et al_. Genome-wide association study meta-analysis identifies seven new rheumatoid arthritis risk loci. _Nat Genet_ 2010; 42: 508–514. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Carr EJ, Clatworthy MR, Lowe CE, Todd JA, Wong A, Vyse TJ _et al_. Contrasting genetic association of IL2RA with SLE and ANCA-associated vasculitis. _BMC Med Genet_ 2009; 10: 22. Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Wang J, Wicker LS, Santamaria P . IL-2 and its high-affinity receptor: genetic control of immunoregulation and autoimmunity. _Semin Immunol_ 2009; 21: 363–371. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Zhernakova A, van Diemen CC, Wijmenga C . Detecting shared pathogenesis from the shared genetics of immune-related diseases. _Nat Rev Genet_ 2009; 10: 43–55. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Assassi S, Mayes MD, Arnett FC, Gourh P, Agarwal SK, McNearney TA _et al_. Systemic sclerosis and lupus: points in an interferon-mediated continuum. _Arthritis Rheum_ 2010; 62: 589–598. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Martin J, Fonseca C . The genetics of scleroderma. _Curr Rheumatol Rep_ 2011; 13: 13–20. Article  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Katsumoto TR, Whitfield ML, Connolly MK . The pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis. _Annu Rev Pathol_ 2011; 6: 509–537. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * LeRoy EC, Black C, Fleischmajer R, Jablonska S, Krieg T, Medsger Jr TA _et al_. Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis): classification, subsets and pathogenesis. _J Rheumatol_ 1988; 15: 202–205. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Ihn H, Sato S, Fujimoto M, Kikuchi K, Takehara K . Clinical significance of serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor in patients with localized scleroderma. _Br J Dermatol_ 1996; 134: 843–847. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Steen VD, Engel EE, Charley MR, Medsger Jr∣ TA . Soluble serum interleukin 2 receptors in patients with systemic sclerosis. _J Rheumatol_ 1996; 23: 646–649. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Maier LM, Lowe CE, Cooper J, Downes K, Anderson DE, Severson C _et al_. IL2RA genetic heterogeneity in multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes susceptibility and soluble interleukin-2 receptor production. _PLoS Genet_ 2009; 5: e1000322. Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Hafler DA, Compston A, Sawcer S, Lander ES, Daly MJ, De Jager PL _et al_. Risk alleles for multiple sclerosis identified by a genomewide study. _N Engl J Med_ 2007; 357: 851–862. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Smyth DJ, Plagnol V, Walker NM, Cooper JD, Downes K, Yang JH _et al_. Shared and distinct genetic variants in type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. _N Engl J Med_ 2008; 359: 2767–2777. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Willerford DM, Chen J, Ferry JA, Davidson L, Ma A, Alt FW . Interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain regulates the size and content of the peripheral lymphoid compartment. _Immunity_ 1995; 3: 521–530. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Suzuki H, Kundig TM, Furlonger C, Wakeham A, Timms E, Matsuyama T _et al_. Deregulated T cell activation and autoimmunity in mice lacking interleukin-2 receptor beta. _Science_ 1995; 268: 1472–1476. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Radstake TR, van Bon L, Broen J, Wenink M, Santegoets K, Deng Y _et al_. Increased frequency and compromised function of T regulatory cells in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is related to a diminished CD69 and TGF beta expression. _PLoS One_ 2009; 4: e5981. Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Klein S, Kretz CC, Ruland V, Stumpf C, Haust M, Hartschuh W _et al_. Reduction of regulatory T cells in skin lesions but not in peripheral blood of patients with systemic scleroderma. _Ann Rheum Dis_ 2011; 70: 1475–1481. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Dendrou CA, Plagnol V, Fung E, Yang JH, Downes K, Cooper JD _et al_. Cell-specific protein phenotypes for the autoimmune locus IL2RA using a genotype-selectable human bioresource. _Nat Genet_ 2009; 41: 1011–1015. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Preliminary criteria for the classification of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). Subcommittee for scleroderma criteria of the American Rheumatism Association Diagnostic and Therapeutic Criteria Committee. _Arthritis Rheum_ 1980; 23: 581–590. * LeRoy EC, Medsger Jr TA . Criteria for the classification of early systemic sclerosis. _J Rheumatol_ 2001; 28: 1573–1576. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Bossini-Castillo L, Broen JC, Simeon CP, Beretta L, Vonk MC, Ortego-Centeno N _et al_. A replication study confirms the association of TNFSF4 (OX40L) polymorphisms with systemic sclerosis in a large European cohort. _Ann Rheum Dis_ 2011; 70: 638–641. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Skol AD, Scott LJ, Abecasis GR, Boehnke M . Joint analysis is more efficient than replication-based analysis for two-stage genome-wide association studies. _Nat Genet_ 2006; 38: 209–213. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Purcell S, Neale B, Todd-Brown K, Thomas L, Ferreira MA, Bender D _et al_. PLINK: a tool set for whole-genome association and population-based linkage analyses. _Am J Hum Genet_ 2007; 81: 559–575. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Benjamini Y, Hochberg Y . Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. _J R Statist Soc B_ 1995; 57: 289–300. Google Scholar  * Barrett JC, Fry B, Maller J, Daly MJ . Haploview: analysis and visualization of LD and haplotype maps. _Bioinformatics_ 2005; 21: 263–265. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Sofía Vargas, Sonia García and Gema Robledo for their excellent technical assistance, and all the patients and healthy controls for kindly accepting their essential collaboration. Banco Nacional de ADN (University of Salamanca, Spain) and The Norwegian Bone Marrow Donor Registry are thanked for supplying part of the control material. We are also thankful to EUSTAR and the German Network of Systemic Sclerosis for the facilitation of this project. This work was supported by the following grants: JM was funded by GEN-FER from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, SAF2009-11110 from the Spanish Ministry of Science, CTS-4977 and CTS-180 from Junta de Andalucía, and in part by RETICS Program, RD08/0075 (RIER) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain. FDC was supported by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) through the program JAE-DOC. TRDJR was funded by the VIDI laureate from the Dutch Association of Research (NWO) and Dutch Arthritis Foundation (National Reumafonds). CF is supported by ‘The Raynaud's and Scleroderma Association’ and ‘The Scleroderma Society’. JM and TRDJR were sponsored by the Orphan Disease Program grant from EULAR. TW was granted by DFG WI 1031/6.1. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * J-E Martin, F D Carmona, J C A Broen, C P Simeón, M C Vonk, P Carreira, R Ríos-Fernández, G Espinosa, E Vicente-Rabaneda, C Tolosa, F J García-Hernández, I Castellví, V Fonollosa, M A González-Gay, L Sáez-Comet, R García Portales, P García de la Peña, M Fernández-Castro, B Díaz, L Martínez-Estupiñán, M Coenen, A E Voskuyl, A J Schuerwegh, M Vanthuyne, F Houssiau, V Smith, F de Keyser, E De Langhe, G Riemekasten, T Witte, N Hunzelmann, A Kreuter, Ø Palm, M M Chee, J M van Laar, C Denton, A Herrick, J Worthington, B P C Koeleman, T R D J Radstake, C Fonseca and J Martín: See supplementary note 7. * J-E Martin and F D Carmona: These authors contributed equally to this work. * T R D J Radstake, C Fonseca and J Martín: These authors share senior authorship. AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, CSIC, Granada, Spain J-E Martin, F D Carmona & J Martín * Department of Rheumatology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands J C A Broen, M C Vonk & T R D J Radstake * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Valle de Hebron, Barcelona, Spain C P Simeón & V Fonollosa * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain P Carreira * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Clínico San Cecilio, Granada, Spain R Ríos-Fernández * Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain G Espinosa * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain E Vicente-Rabaneda * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Parc Tauli, Sabadell, Spain C Tolosa * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain F J García-Hernández * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain I Castellví * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, IFIMAV, Santander, Spain M A González-Gay * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, Spain L Sáez-Comet * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, Spain R García Portales * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Universitario Madrid Norte Sanchinarro, Madrid, Spain P García de la Peña * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain M Fernández-Castro * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain B Díaz * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain L Martínez-Estupiñán * Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands M Coenen * Department of Rheumatology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands A E Voskuyl * Department of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands A J Schuerwegh * Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium M Vanthuyne & F Houssiau * Department of Rheumatology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium V Smith & F de Keyser * University of Leuven (KULeuven), Leuven, Belgium E De Langhe * Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany G Riemekasten * Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany T Witte * Department of Dermatology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany N Hunzelmann * Department of Dermatology, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany A Kreuter * Department of Rheumatology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway Ø Palm * Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, Glasgow Royal Infirmary Glasgow, Glasgow, UK M M Chee * Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK J M van Laar * Centre for Rheumatology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK C Denton & C Fonseca * Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK A Herrick & J Worthington * Department of Medical Genetics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands B P C Koeleman Authors * J-E Martin View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F D Carmona View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * J C A Broen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * C P Simeón View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M C Vonk View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * P Carreira View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * R Ríos-Fernández View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * G Espinosa View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * E Vicente-Rabaneda View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * C Tolosa View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F J García-Hernández View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * I Castellví View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * V Fonollosa View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M A González-Gay View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * L Sáez-Comet View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * R García Portales View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * P García de la Peña View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M Fernández-Castro View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * B Díaz View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * L Martínez-Estupiñán View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M Coenen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * A E Voskuyl View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * A J Schuerwegh View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M Vanthuyne View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F Houssiau View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * V Smith View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F de Keyser View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * E De 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ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no conflict of interest. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on Genes and Immunity website SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Martin, JE., Carmona, F., Broen, J. _et al._ The autoimmune disease-associated _IL2RA_ locus is involved in the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis. _Genes Immun_ 13, 191–196 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.72 Download citation * Received: 17 March 2011 * Revised: 11 August 2011 * Accepted: 19 September 2011 * Published: 20 October 2011 * Issue Date: February 2012 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.72 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * systemic sclerosis * anti-centromere auto-antibody * IL2RA * rs11594656 * rs2104286 * rs12722495

ABSTRACT Regulatory T cells (_T_regs) are crucial in the maintenance of the immune tolerance and seem to have an important role in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The interleukin 2 receptor α


(IL2RA) is an important Treg marker, and polymorphisms of _IL2RA_ gene are associated with a number of autoimmune diseases. Therefore, we aimed to investigate for the first time the


association of the _IL2RA_ locus in SSc. For this purpose, a total of 3023 SSc patients and 2735 matched healthy controls, from six European Caucasian cohorts, were genotyped for the _IL2RA_


gene variants rs11594656, rs2104286 and rs12722495 using the TaqMan allelic discrimination technology. The overall meta-analysis reached statistical significance when the three


polymorphisms were tested for association with SSc, the limited subtype (lcSSc) and anti-centromere auto-antibodies (ACAs). However, no significant _P_-values were obtained when the


ACA-positive patients were removed from the SSc and lcSSc groups, suggesting that these associations rely on ACA positivity. The strongest association signal with ACA production was detected


for rs2104286 (_P_FDR=2.07 × 10−4, odds ratio=1.30 (1.14–1.47)). The associations of rs11594656 and rs12722495 were lost after conditioning to rs2104286, and allelic combination tests did


not evidence a combined effect, indicating that rs2104286 best described the association between _IL2RA_ and ACA presence in SSc. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a


preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 6 digital issues and online access to articles


$119.00 per year only $19.83 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are


calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS


LACK OF ASSOCIATION OF THE PLD4 SNP RS2841277 WITH SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS IN A EUROPEAN AMERICAN POPULATION Article Open access 28 December 2024 SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS GENETICS: INSIGHTS


INTO PATHOGENESIS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPY Article 04 September 2024 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF HLA CLASS II ASSOCIATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH IGG4 AUTOIMMUNITY Article Open


access 02 June 2022 REFERENCES * Malek TR . The biology of interleukin-2. _Annu Rev Immunol_ 2008; 26: 453–479. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Burchill MA, Yang J, Vang KB, Farrar


MA . Interleukin-2 receptor signaling in regulatory T cell development and homeostasis. _Immunol Lett_ 2007; 114: 1–8. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Buckner JH .


Mechanisms of impaired regulation by CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) regulatory T cells in human autoimmune diseases. _Nat Rev Immunol_ 2010; 10: 849–859. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google


Scholar  * Lowe CE, Cooper JD, Brusko T, Walker NM, Smyth DJ, Bailey R _et al_. Large-scale genetic fine mapping and genotype-phenotype associations implicate polymorphism in the IL2RA


region in type 1 diabetes. _Nat Genet_ 2007; 39: 1074–1082. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Stahl EA, Raychaudhuri S, Remmers EF, Xie G, Eyre S, Thomson BP _et al_. Genome-wide


association study meta-analysis identifies seven new rheumatoid arthritis risk loci. _Nat Genet_ 2010; 42: 508–514. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Carr EJ,


Clatworthy MR, Lowe CE, Todd JA, Wong A, Vyse TJ _et al_. Contrasting genetic association of IL2RA with SLE and ANCA-associated vasculitis. _BMC Med Genet_ 2009; 10: 22. Article  PubMed 


PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Wang J, Wicker LS, Santamaria P . IL-2 and its high-affinity receptor: genetic control of immunoregulation and autoimmunity. _Semin Immunol_ 2009; 21:


363–371. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Zhernakova A, van Diemen CC, Wijmenga C . Detecting shared pathogenesis from the shared genetics of immune-related diseases. _Nat Rev Genet_


2009; 10: 43–55. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Assassi S, Mayes MD, Arnett FC, Gourh P, Agarwal SK, McNearney TA _et al_. Systemic sclerosis and lupus: points in an


interferon-mediated continuum. _Arthritis Rheum_ 2010; 62: 589–598. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Martin J, Fonseca C . The genetics of scleroderma. _Curr Rheumatol


Rep_ 2011; 13: 13–20. Article  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Katsumoto TR, Whitfield ML, Connolly MK . The pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis. _Annu Rev Pathol_ 2011; 6: 509–537. Article  CAS 


PubMed  Google Scholar  * LeRoy EC, Black C, Fleischmajer R, Jablonska S, Krieg T, Medsger Jr TA _et al_. Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis): classification, subsets and pathogenesis. _J


Rheumatol_ 1988; 15: 202–205. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Ihn H, Sato S, Fujimoto M, Kikuchi K, Takehara K . Clinical significance of serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor in


patients with localized scleroderma. _Br J Dermatol_ 1996; 134: 843–847. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Steen VD, Engel EE, Charley MR, Medsger Jr∣ TA . Soluble serum interleukin 2


receptors in patients with systemic sclerosis. _J Rheumatol_ 1996; 23: 646–649. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Maier LM, Lowe CE, Cooper J, Downes K, Anderson DE, Severson C _et al_. IL2RA


genetic heterogeneity in multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes susceptibility and soluble interleukin-2 receptor production. _PLoS Genet_ 2009; 5: e1000322. Article  PubMed  PubMed Central


  Google Scholar  * Hafler DA, Compston A, Sawcer S, Lander ES, Daly MJ, De Jager PL _et al_. Risk alleles for multiple sclerosis identified by a genomewide study. _N Engl J Med_ 2007; 357:


851–862. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Smyth DJ, Plagnol V, Walker NM, Cooper JD, Downes K, Yang JH _et al_. Shared and distinct genetic variants in type 1 diabetes and celiac


disease. _N Engl J Med_ 2008; 359: 2767–2777. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Willerford DM, Chen J, Ferry JA, Davidson L, Ma A, Alt FW . Interleukin-2 receptor alpha


chain regulates the size and content of the peripheral lymphoid compartment. _Immunity_ 1995; 3: 521–530. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Suzuki H, Kundig TM, Furlonger C, Wakeham


A, Timms E, Matsuyama T _et al_. Deregulated T cell activation and autoimmunity in mice lacking interleukin-2 receptor beta. _Science_ 1995; 268: 1472–1476. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google


Scholar  * Radstake TR, van Bon L, Broen J, Wenink M, Santegoets K, Deng Y _et al_. Increased frequency and compromised function of T regulatory cells in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is related


to a diminished CD69 and TGF beta expression. _PLoS One_ 2009; 4: e5981. Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Klein S, Kretz CC, Ruland V, Stumpf C, Haust M, Hartschuh W _et


al_. Reduction of regulatory T cells in skin lesions but not in peripheral blood of patients with systemic scleroderma. _Ann Rheum Dis_ 2011; 70: 1475–1481. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google


Scholar  * Dendrou CA, Plagnol V, Fung E, Yang JH, Downes K, Cooper JD _et al_. Cell-specific protein phenotypes for the autoimmune locus IL2RA using a genotype-selectable human bioresource.


_Nat Genet_ 2009; 41: 1011–1015. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Preliminary criteria for the classification of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). Subcommittee for


scleroderma criteria of the American Rheumatism Association Diagnostic and Therapeutic Criteria Committee. _Arthritis Rheum_ 1980; 23: 581–590. * LeRoy EC, Medsger Jr TA . Criteria for the


classification of early systemic sclerosis. _J Rheumatol_ 2001; 28: 1573–1576. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Bossini-Castillo L, Broen JC, Simeon CP, Beretta L, Vonk MC, Ortego-Centeno N


_et al_. A replication study confirms the association of TNFSF4 (OX40L) polymorphisms with systemic sclerosis in a large European cohort. _Ann Rheum Dis_ 2011; 70: 638–641. Article  CAS 


PubMed  Google Scholar  * Skol AD, Scott LJ, Abecasis GR, Boehnke M . Joint analysis is more efficient than replication-based analysis for two-stage genome-wide association studies. _Nat


Genet_ 2006; 38: 209–213. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Purcell S, Neale B, Todd-Brown K, Thomas L, Ferreira MA, Bender D _et al_. PLINK: a tool set for whole-genome association


and population-based linkage analyses. _Am J Hum Genet_ 2007; 81: 559–575. Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  * Benjamini Y, Hochberg Y . Controlling the false discovery


rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. _J R Statist Soc B_ 1995; 57: 289–300. Google Scholar  * Barrett JC, Fry B, Maller J, Daly MJ . Haploview: analysis and


visualization of LD and haplotype maps. _Bioinformatics_ 2005; 21: 263–265. Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Sofía Vargas, Sonia García and


Gema Robledo for their excellent technical assistance, and all the patients and healthy controls for kindly accepting their essential collaboration. Banco Nacional de ADN (University of


Salamanca, Spain) and The Norwegian Bone Marrow Donor Registry are thanked for supplying part of the control material. We are also thankful to EUSTAR and the German Network of Systemic


Sclerosis for the facilitation of this project. This work was supported by the following grants: JM was funded by GEN-FER from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, SAF2009-11110 from the


Spanish Ministry of Science, CTS-4977 and CTS-180 from Junta de Andalucía, and in part by RETICS Program, RD08/0075 (RIER) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain. FDC was


supported by Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) through the program JAE-DOC. TRDJR was funded by the VIDI laureate from the Dutch Association of Research (NWO) and Dutch


Arthritis Foundation (National Reumafonds). CF is supported by ‘The Raynaud's and Scleroderma Association’ and ‘The Scleroderma Society’. JM and TRDJR were sponsored by the Orphan


Disease Program grant from EULAR. TW was granted by DFG WI 1031/6.1. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * J-E Martin, F D Carmona, J C A Broen, C P Simeón, M C Vonk, P Carreira, R


Ríos-Fernández, G Espinosa, E Vicente-Rabaneda, C Tolosa, F J García-Hernández, I Castellví, V Fonollosa, M A González-Gay, L Sáez-Comet, R García Portales, P García de la Peña, M


Fernández-Castro, B Díaz, L Martínez-Estupiñán, M Coenen, A E Voskuyl, A J Schuerwegh, M Vanthuyne, F Houssiau, V Smith, F de Keyser, E De Langhe, G Riemekasten, T Witte, N Hunzelmann, A


Kreuter, Ø Palm, M M Chee, J M van Laar, C Denton, A Herrick, J Worthington, B P C Koeleman, T R D J Radstake, C Fonseca and J Martín: See supplementary note 7. * J-E Martin and F D Carmona:


These authors contributed equally to this work. * T R D J Radstake, C Fonseca and J Martín: These authors share senior authorship. AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Instituto de Parasitología y


Biomedicina López-Neyra, CSIC, Granada, Spain J-E Martin, F D Carmona & J Martín * Department of Rheumatology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands J C A


Broen, M C Vonk & T R D J Radstake * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Valle de Hebron, Barcelona, Spain C P Simeón & V Fonollosa * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital 12


de Octubre, Madrid, Spain P Carreira * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Clínico San Cecilio, Granada, Spain R Ríos-Fernández * Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Hospital Clinic,


Barcelona, Spain G Espinosa * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain E Vicente-Rabaneda * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Parc Tauli, Sabadell, Spain C


Tolosa * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain F J García-Hernández * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain I Castellví *


Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, IFIMAV, Santander, Spain M A González-Gay * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet,


Zaragoza, Spain L Sáez-Comet * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, Spain R García Portales * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Universitario Madrid Norte


Sanchinarro, Madrid, Spain P García de la Peña * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain M Fernández-Castro * Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Central


de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain B Díaz * Department of Rheumatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain L Martínez-Estupiñán * Department of Human Genetics, Radboud


University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands M Coenen * Department of Rheumatology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands A E Voskuyl * Department of


Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands A J Schuerwegh * Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium M Vanthuyne 


& F Houssiau * Department of Rheumatology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium V Smith & F de Keyser * University of Leuven (KULeuven), Leuven, Belgium E De Langhe * Department of


Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany G Riemekasten * Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany T Witte * Department of Dermatology, University


of Cologne, Cologne, Germany N Hunzelmann * Department of Dermatology, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany A Kreuter * Department of Rheumatology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University


Hospital, Oslo, Norway Ø Palm * Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, Glasgow Royal Infirmary Glasgow, Glasgow, UK M M Chee * Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK J M


van Laar * Centre for Rheumatology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK C Denton & C Fonseca * Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Unit, The University of


Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK A Herrick & J Worthington * Department of Medical Genetics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The


Netherlands B P C Koeleman Authors * J-E Martin View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * F D Carmona View author publications You can also


search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * J C A Broen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * C P Simeón View author publications You


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View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONSORTIA AND SPANISH SCLERODERMA GROUP CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to F D Carmona. ETHICS


DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no conflict of interest. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on Genes and Immunity website


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Martin, JE., Carmona, F., Broen, J. _et al._ The


autoimmune disease-associated _IL2RA_ locus is involved in the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis. _Genes Immun_ 13, 191–196 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.72 Download


citation * Received: 17 March 2011 * Revised: 11 August 2011 * Accepted: 19 September 2011 * Published: 20 October 2011 * Issue Date: February 2012 * DOI:


https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.72 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not


currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * systemic sclerosis * anti-centromere auto-antibody *


IL2RA * rs11594656 * rs2104286 * rs12722495