RA(-risk) patients have a decreased frequency of lymph node CD4+ CD45RA+ naïve T cells as well as a lower frequency of CCR7 expressing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in comparison to healthy controls63,64, which is in line with the decreased capacity to produce CCL19 by LNSCs during the earliest phases of RA. This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and rheumatoid arthritis.