Autoreactive T cells identified in patients with anti-Jo1+ antisynthetase syndrome recognise a new epitope on histidyl t-RNA synthetase

OBJECTIVES: T cells point to yet undiscovered T cell epitopes. We aimed to identify new epitopes on HisRS to investigate the presence of autoreactive T cells and their corresponding T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire from patients with ASyS. METHODS: T cells. Single TCR sequencing of captured T cells allowed analyses of the underlying TCR repertoire. RESULTS: T cells persisted after treatment in 2 patients (P2 and P4) and 2 identical T cell clones were detected between the initial and follow-up time points in 1 patient (P2). CONCLUSIONS: Autoreactive T-cells targeting a new HisRS epitope were identified indicating T cell reactivity to diverse epitopes of the HisRS protein in patients with anti-Jo1 autoantibodies. Furthermore, we demonstrated the TCR repertoire of autoreactive HisRS+CD4+T cells in patients. Persistence of these T-cells and specific clones may be contributing to disease.