In the Immunity and Infection theme, gene-expression based biomarkers have been established in common and debilitating autoimmune diseases, which could allow individual tailoring of potentially toxic immunosuppressive therapy. Transcriptional profiling of purified CD8(+) T cells, which avoids the confounding influences of unseparated cells, has identified two distinct subject subgroups predicting long-term prognosis in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
These subgroups, which are also found in the normal population and can be identified by measuring expression of only three genes, raise the prospect of individualised therapy and suggest new potential therapeutic targets in autoimmunity. These biomarkers have been patented and prospective clinical studies are being initiated.
