Monocytes from systemic lupus erythematosus patients are severely altered in phenotype and lineage flexibility
Article Abstract:
Monocytes from patients with lupus behave differently and secrete much more tumor necrosis factor alpha than monocytes from healthy people. Monocytes are a type of white blood cell.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 2000
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Enhanced expression of the heat shock protein gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus
Article Abstract:
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is one of the autoimmune diseases, in which the body makes antibodies against its own tissues or molecules. Other dysfunctions of the immune system and its white blood cell components are also common and the subject of much research. Heat shock proteins (hsps) are proteins that are synthesized in response to raised temperature, and these may be important for survival of cells that have been subjected to environmental or physiological stress. Additionally, hsps may be involved in cell proliferation and differentiation (specialization into cells with specific functions). The synthesis of one hsp in monocytes, a type of white blood cell, was evaluated in five patients with SLE, in three patients with asthma who were receiving similar medications, and in five healthy subjects. Measurement of gene copying, the first step in protein synthesis, showed that hsp synthesis was more than 10-fold greater in patients with SLE than in asthmatic patients or healthy subjects. It is possible that hsps are needed in normal monocyte function, but hsps may also participate in the inflammatory process. Further research is needed to understand the role of hsps in monocyte function and the progression of disease in SLE. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1990
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Enhanced membrane expression of the 52 kDa Ro(SS-A) and La(SS-B) antigens by human keratinocytes induced by TNF-alpha
Article Abstract:
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFa) may play a role in stimulating the immune response in skin cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or Sjogren's syndrome by interacting with the 52 kilodalton (kDa) Ro(SS-A) and La(SS-B) antigens. An antigen is a substance that causes the formation of an antibody. Researchers treated human skin cells with TNFa and tested the response of these cells to mouse La(SS-B) antibodies, 68 kDa U1RNP antibodies, and 52 kDa Ro(SS-A) antibodies from patients with SLE and Sjogren's syndrome. The expression of the antigens that correspond to the 52 kDa Ro(SS-A) and La(SS-B) antibodies increased after treatment with TNFa. La(SS-B) expression increased immediately after treatment with TNFa while 52 Ro(SS-A) expression reached its highest level after 2 hours and then tapered off over a 24 hour period. There was no antigen expression in response to stimulation with 68 kDa U1RNP.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1995
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- Abstracts: Differential heat shock protein overexpression and its clinical relevance in systemic lupus erythematosus. Cytokines and systemic lupus erythematosus
- Abstracts: Loss of laminin and of the laminin receptor integrin subunit alpha 6 in situ correlates with cytokine induced down regulation of alpha 6 on fibroblast-like synoviocytes from rheumatoid arthritis