Humans homozygous for rare or common hypomorphic IL23R variants are prone to tuberculosis

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.