Homozygosity for rare loss-of-function IL23R variants abolishes IL-23–dependent IFN-γ production by lymphocytes, including NK and innate-like T cells, thereby underlying clinical disease due to weakly virulent mycobacterial species. We report selective enrichment in homozygosity for four hypomorphic IL23R variants in our cohort of patients with tuberculosis. Three of these IL23R alleles are rare (G300V, G149R, and L372F), with a minor allele frequency (MAF) under 1%, but the fourth (R381Q) is surprisingly common, with an MAF as high as 10.2% in certain populations. The other 15 missense alleles found in the homozygous state in public databases are isomorphic. The four hypomorphic IL-23R variants identified dimerize with IL-12Rβ1 and bind IL-23. However, their function is impaired by low levels of cell surface expression (R381Q, G300V) and/or as a consequence of conformational changes altering agonist efficacy. IFN-γ production in response to IL-23 is impaired in innate-like T cells and NK cells. These data suggest that recessive partial IL-23R deficiency, whether due to rare or common variants, confers a predisposition to tuberculosis while preserving immunity to less virulent mycobacteria.
Humans homozygous for rare or common hypomorphic IL23R variants are prone to tuberculosis
D. Olguín Calderón, L.E. Kilpatrick, C. Conil, and Q. Philippot contributed equally to this paper.
M. Ogishi and J. Vellutini contributed equally to this paper.
P.D. Craggs, J.-L. Casanova, A. Cobat, A. Puel, J. Bustamante, S.J. Hill, and S. Boisson-Dupuis contributed equally to this paper.
Disclosures: L. Kilpatrick reported grants from Medical Research Council during the conduct of the study. Q. Philippot reported research grants from the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation under the CCA Inserm Bettencourt program, Air Liquide Foundation, Fondation du Souffle, and Agence Nationale de la Recherche. L. Rogge reported grants from Johnson & Johnson outside the submitted work. I. Meyts reported other from CSL Behring, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Takeda outside the submitted work. S.J. Hill reported grants from Medical Research Council UK, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council UK, and GSK during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.
- Award Id(s): R01AI095983,R01AI127564
- Award Id(s): ANR-10-IAHU-01,ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID,ANR-22-CE92-0008
- Award Id(s): ECTZ170784-ANRS0073,ANRS0787-ECTZ323676,ECTZ293125,ECTZ293911
- Award Id(s): EQU202503020018,FDM202406018939
- Award Id(s): 824110
- Award Id(s): MR/W016176/1
- Award Id(s): BB/S507027/1
- Award Id(s): PI15/01094
- Award Id(s): 111584467551/CT 415-2020
- Award Id(s): 2017463,1176665
- Award Id(s): UL1TR001866
- Award Id(s): G1805826N
Diana Olguín Calderón, Laura E. Kilpatrick, Clément Conil, Quentin Philippot, Masato Ogishi, Joseph Vellutini, Ji Eun Han, Narelle Keating, Hailun Li, Geetha Rao, Jonathan Bohlen, Charles S. Lay, Simon Platt, Gaspard Kerner, Elsa Feredj, Jessica N. Peel, Mana Momenilandi, Yoann Seeleuthner, Candice Lainé, Camille Soudée, Claire Leloup, Cecile Debuisson, Fanny Lanternier, Samuel Bitoun, Stephan Pavy, Xavier Mariette, Aniss Rafik, Hanaa Skhoun, Hanane El Ouazzani, Ismael Abderahmani-Ghorfi, Jamila El-Baghdadi, Andrés Baena, Manuela Tejada-Giraldo, Luis Fernando Barrera, Andrés Augusto Arias, Giovanna Fabio, Maria Carrabba, Melike Emiroglu, Liliana Bezrodnik, Loubna El Zein, Hassan Hammoud, Peter K. Gregersen, Benjamin Terrier, Rafael Leon Lopez, Marion Touzet, Vincent Pestre, Marlène Pasquet, Lars Rogge, Michael Fayon, François Galode, Eric Jeziorski, Darragh Duffy, Lluis Quintana-Murci, Etienne Patin, Charlotte Cunningham-Rundles, Isabelle Meyts, Shen-Ying Zhang, Qian Zhang, Emmanuelle Jouanguy, Bertrand Boisson, Jérémie Rosain, Vivien Béziat, Mohammad Shahrooei, Seyed Alireza Mahdaviani, Nima Rezaei, Nima Parvaneh, Zahra Chavoshzadeh, Niloufar Yazdanpanah, Nathalie Aladjidi, Antoni Noguera-Julian, Ana Esteve-Solé, Laia Alsina, Davood Mansouri, Sevgi Keles, Mediha Gonenc Ortakoylu, Deniz Aygun, Esra Yucel, Ayca Kiykim, Yildiz Camcioglu, Cindy S. Ma, Stuart G. Tangye, Peng Zhang, Laurent Abel, Peter D. Craggs, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Aurélie Cobat, Anne Puel, Jacinta Bustamante, Stephen J. Hill, Stéphanie Boisson-Dupuis; Humans homozygous for rare or common hypomorphic IL23R variants are prone to tuberculosis. J Exp Med 3 August 2026; 223 (8): e20252236. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20252236
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