TY - JOUR AU - Katewa, Arna AU - Wang, Yugang AU - Hackney, Jason A. AU - Huang, Tao AU - Suto, Eric AU - Ramamoorthi, Nandhini AU - Austin, Cary D. AU - Bremer, Meire AU - Chen, Jacob Zhi AU - Crawford, James J. AU - Currie, Kevin S. AU - Blomgren, Peter AU - DeVoss, Jason AU - DiPaolo, Julie A. AU - Hau, Jonathan AU - Johnson, Adam AU - Lesch, Justin AU - DeForge, Laura E. AU - Lin, Zhonghua AU - Liimatta, Marya AU - Lubach, Joseph W. AU - McVay, Sami AU - Modrusan, Zora AU - Nguyen, Allen AU - Poon, Chungkee AU - Wang, Jianyong AU - Liu, Lichuan AU - Lee, Wyne P. AU - Wong, Harvey AU - Young, Wendy B. AU - Townsend, Michael J. AU - Reif, Karin T1 - Btk-specific inhibition blocks pathogenic plasma cell signatures and myeloid cell–associated damage in IFNα-driven lupus nephritis PY - 2017/04/06/ AB - Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is often associated with exaggerated B cell activation promoting plasma cell generation, immune-complex deposition in the kidney, renal infiltration of myeloid cells, and glomerular nephritis. Type-I IFNs amplify these autoimmune processes and promote severe disease. Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitors are considered novel therapies for SLE. We describe the characterization of a highly selective reversible Btk inhibitor, G-744. G-744 is efficacious, and superior to blocking BAFF and Syk, in ameliorating severe lupus nephritis in both spontaneous and IFNα-accelerated lupus in NZB/W_F1 mice in therapeutic regimens. Selective Btk inhibition ablated plasmablast generation, reduced autoantibodies, and — similar to cyclophosphamide — improved renal pathology in IFNα-accelerated lupus. Employing global transcriptional profiling of spleen and kidney coupled with cross-species human modular repertoire analyses, we identify similarities in the inflammatory process between mice and humans, and we demonstrate that G-744 reduced gene expression signatures essential for splenic B cell terminal differentiation, particularly the secretory pathway, as well as renal transcriptional profiles coupled with myeloid cell–mediated pathology and glomerular plus tubulointerstitial disease in human glomerulonephritis patients. These findings reveal the mechanism through which a selective Btk inhibitor blocks murine autoimmune kidney disease, highlighting pathway activity that may translate to human SLE. JF - JCI Insight JA - JCI Insight SN - 2379-3708 DO - 10.1172/jci.insight.90111 VL - 2 IS - 7 UR - https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.90111 PB - The American Society for Clinical Investigation ER -