Li, GangCunin, PierreWu, DiDiogo, DorothéeYang, YuOkada, YukinoriPlenge, Robert M.Nigrovic, Peter2016-11-182016Li, Gang, Pierre Cunin, Di Wu, Dorothée Diogo, Yu Yang, Yukinori Okada, Robert M. Plenge, and Peter A. Nigrovic. 2016. “The Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Variant CCR6DNP Regulates CCR6 via PARP-1.” PLoS Genetics 12 (9): e1006292. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006292. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1006292.1553-7390http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:29407559Understanding the implications of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for disease biology requires both identification of causal variants and definition of how these variants alter gene function. The non-coding triallelic dinucleotide polymorphism CCR6DNP is associated with risk for rheumatoid arthritis, and is considered likely causal because allelic variation correlates with expression of the chemokine receptor CCR6. Using transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) gene editing, we confirmed that CCR6DNP regulates CCR6. To identify the associated transcription factor, we applied a novel assay, Flanking Restriction Enhanced Pulldown (FREP), to identify specific association of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) with CCR6DNP consistent with the established allelic risk hierarchy. Correspondingly, manipulation of PARP-1 expression or activity impaired CCR6 expression in several lineages. These findings show that CCR6DNP is a causal variant through which PARP-1 regulates CCR6, and introduce a highly efficient approach to interrogate non-coding genetic polymorphisms associated with human disease.en-USBiology and life sciencesBiochemistryProteinsDNA-binding proteinsBiology and Life SciencesGeneticsGene ExpressionGene RegulationGenetic LociCell BiologyCellular TypesAnimal CellsBlood CellsWhite Blood CellsT CellsImmune CellsImmunologyMedicine and Health SciencesMolecular BiologyMolecular Biology TechniquesCloningBiotechnologyBioengineeringSynthetic bioengineeringGenome engineeringSynthetic genome editingTALENsEngineering and technologySynthetic biologySynthetic genomicsEnzymologyEnzyme ChemistryEnzyme RegulationArtificial Gene Amplification and ExtensionPolymerase Chain ReactionJournal Article2016-11-1810.1371/journal.pgen.1006292