# Identification of key regulators in rheumatoid arthritis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2021 · $578,386

## Abstract

Project Summary
Joint damage and synovial inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are influenced by genetic and
environmental factors. Individual patients and joints have shown variation of response to the same treatment.
To reveal the underlying mechanisms, genome-wide characterization of the RA pathogenesis that require
small amount of input materials and at relatively low cost is necessary. Currently, RNA-seq and ATAC-seq
satisfy these requirements to map transcriptome and open chromatin in the RA samples, which can provide
complementary delineation of the pathogenic mechanisms. We propose here to perform RNA-seq and ATAC-
seq in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) for both RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients. We will develop and
improve a new computational pipeline that integrates these data to evaluate each transcription factor's
importance in individual patients. By comparing FLS RA and OA samples, we will identify disease-specific
regulators in Specific Aim 1. By comparing individual RA patients, we will identify patient-specific regulators in
Specific Aim 2. We will perform biologic experiments to validate the top predicted regulators in Specific Aim 3.
Once completed, this study will open a new avenue of understanding the regulatory mechanisms underlying
RA and dictating the variable responses to treatment in individual patients, which paves the way towards
precise and personalized therapy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10147646
- **Project number:** 5R01AR065466-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** GARY S FIRESTEIN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $578,386
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-08-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10147646

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10147646, Identification of key regulators in rheumatoid arthritis (5R01AR065466-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10147646. Licensed CC0.

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