Aire controls gene expression in the thymic epithelium with ordered stochasticity

Abstract

Aire controls immunologic tolerance by inducing the ectopic thymic expression of many tissue-specific genes, acting broadly by removing stops on the transcriptional machinery. To better understand Aire’s specificity, we performed single-cell RNAseq and DNA methylation analysis in Aire-sufficient and -deficient medullary epithelial cells (mTECs). Each of Aire’s target genes was induced in only a minority of mTECs, independently of DNA methylation patterns, as small inter-chromosomal gene clusters activated in concert in a proportion of mTECs. These microclusters differed between individual mice, and thus suggest an organization of the DNA or of the epigenome that results from stochastic determinism, but is bookmarked and stable through mTEC divisions, ensuring more effective presentation of self-antigens, and favoring diversity of self-tolerance between individuals.