UBASH3A is a negative regulator of T cell activation and IL-2 production and plays key roles in autoimmunity. Although previous studies revealed the individual effects of UBASH3A on risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D; a common autoimmune disease), the relationship of UBASH3A with other T1D risk factors remains largely unknown. Given that another well-known T1D risk factor, PTPN22, also inhibits T cell activation and IL-2 production, we investigated the relationship between UBASH3A and PTPN22. We found that UBASH3A, via its Src homology 3 (SH3) domain, physically interacts with PTPN22 in T cells, and that this interaction is not altered by the T1D risk coding variant rs2476601 in PTPN22. Furthermore, our analysis of RNA-seq data from T1D cases showed that the amounts of UBASH3A and PTPN22 transcripts exert a cooperative effect on IL2 expression in human primary CD8+ T cells. Finally, our genetic association analyses revealed that two independent T1D risk variants, rs11203203 in UBASH3A and rs2476601 in PTPN22, interact statistically, jointly affecting risk for T1D. In summary, our study reveals novel interactions, both biochemical and statistical, between two independent T1D risk loci, and suggests how these interactions may affect T cell function and increase risk for T1D.
Keywords: IL-2; PTPN22; T cells; UBASH3A; autoimmunity; rs11203203; rs2476601; type 1 diabetes.