Abstract
IntroductionThe present study examines the levels of recently reported biomarkers, adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR), C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), C-X-C motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10), signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1), and miR-146a in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients over multiple visits.MethodsPeripheral blood leukocytes were collected from 65 healthy donors and 103 SLE patients, 60 of whom had samples from 2 or more visits. Total RNA was isolated and analyzed for the expression of mRNA and microRNA using Taqman real time PCR assays. Relative expression of I-IFN signature genes, chemokines, and miR-146a were determined by the ΔΔCT method. Results were correlated with clinical data and analyzed by Wilcoxon/Kruskal-Wallis test and Fisher’s exact test.ResultsLevels of ADAR, CCL2, CXCL10, and STAT1 in SLE were significantly elevated compared with the healthy controls (P <0.0001). ADAR, CCL2, and CXCL10 showed significant correlation with IFN score in both healthy donors (P <0.0033) and SLE patients (P <0.0001). In SLE patients, miR-146a level was not significantly different from healthy controls nor correlated to the IFN score. Two STAT1 populations were identified: a low STAT1 and a high STAT1 group. High STAT1 patient visits displayed higher (P ≤0.0020) levels of CCL2 and CXCL10 than the low STAT1 patient visits. STAT1 levels correlated with IFN score in low STAT1 group but not in high STAT1 group. More importantly, high STAT1 levels appeared as an enhancer of CCL2 and CXCL10 as indicated by the significantly stronger correlation of CCL2 and CXCL10 with IFN score in high STAT1 patient visits relative to low STAT1 patient visits.ConclusionOur data indicate a novel role for STAT1 in the pathogenesis of SLE as an expression enhancer of CCL2 and CXCL10 in SLE patients with high levels of STAT1. Future study is needed to examine the exact role of STAT1 in the etiology of SLE.
Highlights
The present study examines the levels of recently reported biomarkers, adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR), C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), C-X-C motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10), signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1), and miR-146a in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients over multiple visits
Our present study evaluates the interaction among STAT1, ADAR, CCL2, CXCL10, and miR-146a in SLE patients and healthy controls, demonstrating that all except for miR-146a correlate with IFN score in both SLE patients and healthy donors
The IFN score, STAT1, ADAR, CCL2, and CXCL10 levels were significantly elevated at both active and inactive SLE patient visits compared to Healthy donors (HD) (Figure 1A-E), establishing and confirming that these biomarkers were aberrantly overexpressed in our SLE patients
Summary
The present study examines the levels of recently reported biomarkers, adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR), C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), C-X-C motif chemokine 10 (CXCL10), signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1), and miR-146a in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients over multiple visits. Several genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in SLE etiopathogenesis, but in recent are used to calculate the IFN score [1,5,6,7]. Another interferon inducible gene that plays an important antiviral and immunomodulatory function is the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR). Due to increased ADAR1 in SLE patients, Orlowski et al observed an increase of phosphodiesterase 8A1, which participates in the termination of cyclic nucleotide signaling by hydrolyzing cAMP and cGMP and is activated by IFN and enhances T-cell adhesion [17]
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