SICCA-NextGen

In 2020, the Sjögren’s International Collaborative Clinical Alliance Next Generation Studies (SICCA-NextGen) was launched with new funding from NIDCR (U01DE028891), utilizing existing infrastructure and an expanded team of experts to continue our exploration of the pathogenesis of Sjögren’s disease and identify therapeutic pathways, and new biomarkers. Using the previously collected clinical data and biospecimens, and genome-wide genotyping performed on all participants, our team is currently defining the transcriptomics and epigenetics of Sjögren’s disease at cell and tissue levels, which will result in a uniquely valuable resource for future studies of the disease, and provide new insights into its pathogenic mechanisms.

1. Generate transcriptome and methylation profiles in order to explore transcriptomic diversity across subsets of SICCA participants with well characterized epigenetic and genetic profiles, across cell and tissue types.
2. Explore correlations between omics profiles and signs of severe disease manifestations, including presence of germinal-center-formation (GCF) and focal lymphocytic sialadenitis with a high focus score in LSG biopsies, hypergammaglobulinemia, and hypocomplementemia.
3. Characterize longitudinal changes in omics profiles of subsets of SICCA patients.

SICCA-NextGen Team
UCSF Caroline Shiboski, PI Geoffrey Urbanski Jimmie Chun Ye Kim Taylor Sarah Knox Dissemination Plan: Steve Shiboski John Gonzales Billy Huang Richard Jordan Michelle Yu   UC Berkeley Lisa Barcellos	UCSF CoLabs Emily R. Flynn Ravi Patel Walter E. Eckalbar Gabriela K. Fragiadakis Alexis J. Combes Andrea J. Barczak Catherine Chu Brittany Davidson Jessica Tsui Lenka Maliskova   NIH Lindsey A. Criswell, NHGRI Joanne Nititham, NHGRI Preethi Chander, NIDCR, Project Officer	External Scientific Advisor Board Xavier Mariette (Chair) Ilias Alevizos Alan Baer Hendrika Bootsma Stephen Challacombe Roland Jonsson Wan-Fai Ng Jacques-Olivier Pers Antony Rosen Marjan A Versnel