Roles of regulation of plasma cell function by Blimp1-B cell maturation antigen in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Objective To detect the expression of Blimpl gene in MRL/lpr mice, so as to provide new ideas for plasma cell-targeting therapy of systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE）. Methods Electrophoretic mobility shift assay （EMSA） and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis （CHIP） were performed to evaluate the regulatory effect of Blimpl on B cell maturation antigen （BCMA）, and fluorescence-based quantitative PCR was carried out to detect the expression of Blimp1 mRNA in spleen and lymph node tissue of MRL/lpr mice and normal control mice. The intergroup difference in Blimpl mRNA expression was assessed by rank sum test. Results Blimpl could bind to the BCMA gene promoter. Increased Blimpl mRNA expression was observed in both the spleen and lymph node tissue of MRL/Ipr mice compared with the normal control mice （Z = 2.609, 3.402, respectively, both P 〈 0.01 ）. Conclusions BCMA appears to be the target gene of Blimpl, and Blimpl may plays a certain role in the maintenance of plasma cell survival and antibody production via directly regulating BCMA gene expression. Key words: Lupus erythematosus, systemic; Blimpl; B-cell maturation antigen; Plasma cell; Mice, inbred MRL lpr