Human RELA haploinsufficiency results in autosomal-dominant chronic mucocutaneous ulceration

Abstract

The treatment of chronic mucocutaneous ulceration is challenging, and only some patients respond selectively to inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF). TNF activates opposing pathways leading to caspase-8–mediated apoptosis as well as nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)–dependent cell survival. We investigated the etiology of autosomal-dominant, mucocutaneous ulceration in a family whose proband was dependent on anti-TNF therapy for sustained remission. A heterozygous mutation in RELA, encoding the NF-κB subunit RelA, segregated with the disease phenotype and resulted in RelA haploinsufficiency. The patients’ fibroblasts exhibited increased apoptosis in response to TNF, impaired NF-κB activation, and defective expression of NF-κB–dependent antiapoptotic genes. Rela+/− mice have similarly impaired NF-κB activation, develop cutaneous ulceration from TNF exposure, and exhibit severe dextran sodium sulfate–induced colitis, ameliorated by TNF inhibition. These findings demonstrate an essential contribution of biallelic RELA expression in protecting stromal cells from TNF-mediated cell death, thus delineating the mechanisms driving the effectiveness of TNF inhibition in this disease.