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Singh SK, Prislovsky A, Ngwa DN, Munkhsaikhan U, Abidi AH, Brand DD, Agrawal A. C-reactive protein lowers the serum level of IL-17, but not TNF-α, and decreases the incidence of collagen-induced arthritis in mice. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1385085. [PMID: 38650931 PMCID: PMC11033386 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1385085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The biosynthesis of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the liver is increased in inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis. Previously published data suggest a protective function of CRP in arthritis; however, the mechanism of action of CRP remains undefined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of human CRP on the development of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice which is an animal model of autoimmune inflammatory arthritis. Two CRP species were employed: wild-type CRP which binds to aggregated IgG at acidic pH and a CRP mutant which binds to aggregated IgG at physiological pH. Ten CRP injections were given on alternate days during the development of CIA. Both wild-type and mutant CRP reduced the incidence of CIA, that is, reduced the number of mice developing CIA; however, CRP did not affect the severity of the disease in arthritic mice. The serum levels of IL-17, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10, IL-2 and IL-1β were measured: both wild-type and mutant CRP decreased the level of IL-17 and IL-6 but not of TNF-α, IL-10, IL-2 and IL-1β. These data suggest that CRP recognizes and binds to immune complexes, although it was not clear whether CRP functioned in its native pentameric or in its structurally altered pentameric form in the CIA model. Consequently, ligand-complexed CRP, through an as-yet undefined mechanism, directly or indirectly, inhibits the production of IL-17 and eventually protects against the initiation of the development of arthritis. The data also suggest that IL-17, not TNF-α, is critical for the development of autoimmune inflammatory arthritis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanjay K. Singh
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
| | - Amanda Prislovsky
- The Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Donald N. Ngwa
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
| | - Undral Munkhsaikhan
- College of Dental Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Ammaar H. Abidi
- College of Dental Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - David D. Brand
- The Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Alok Agrawal
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
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Fakhfakh R, Zian Z, Elloumi N, Abida O, Bouallegui E, Houssaini H, Volpe E, Capone A, Hachicha H, Marzouk S, Bahloul Z, Masmoudi H. Th17 and Th1 cells in systemic lupus erythematosus with focus on lupus nephritis. Immunol Res 2022; 70:644-653. [PMID: 35666434 DOI: 10.1007/s12026-022-09296-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease characterized by T cells imbalance. Indeed, a correlation between levels of Th17 cells and disease activity has been reported. Our work aimed to study the functional association of subpopulations of Th cells and SLE with (lupus nephritis, LN) or without (lupus erythematosus, LE) renal involvement in Tunisian patients through the detection of intracellular cytokines and surface marker expression. The IL23R and RORC mRNA expression levels were evaluated. The level of Th17 and Th1 cells was higher in LE and LN patients compared to healthy controls (HC) (p = 0.007 and p = 0.018, respectively), while Th1/17 cells were increased only in LN patients compared to HC (p = 0.011). However, no significant difference was described in the mRNA expression levels of RORC and IL-23R between SLE and HC. Our findings suggest that the Th1/Th17 differentiation mechanisms are altered in SLE and that this imbalance should have an important influence on the development and severity of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raouia Fakhfakh
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia.
| | - Zeineb Zian
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
- Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics Research Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Tangier, University Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Tetouan, Morocco
| | - Nesrine Elloumi
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Olfa Abida
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Emna Bouallegui
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Hana Houssaini
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Elisabetta Volpe
- Molecular Neuroimmunology Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessia Capone
- Molecular Neuroimmunology Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Hend Hachicha
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Sameh Marzouk
- Internal Medicine Department, Hedi Chaker University Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Zouhir Bahloul
- Internal Medicine Department, Hedi Chaker University Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Hatem Masmoudi
- Autoimmunity, Cancer, and Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, LR18SP12, University Hospital Habib Bourguiba of Sfax, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia
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Zhang L, Li W, Gong M, Zhang Z, Xue X, Mao J, Zhang H, Li S, Liu X, Wu F, Shi J, Fu G. C-reactive protein inhibits C3a/C3aR-dependent podocyte autophagy in favor of diabetic kidney disease. FASEB J 2022; 36:e22332. [PMID: 35503088 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202200198r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have reported the pathogenic roles of C-reactive protein (CRP) and complement activation in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) individually. However, considering the potent regulatory effect of CRP on complement activation, it remains unclear whether CRP participates in DKD pathogenesis by regulating complement activation. Moreover, this work focuses on complement activation in rats, which aims at settling the dispute that whether rat CRP can activate the complement system. To address this question, the complement effectors C3a, C5a, and C5b-9 were examined in human patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and wt, Crp-/- , and huCRPtg rats with STZ-diabetic DKD. The Crp-/- rats showed more C3a accumulation in blood and glomeruli than wt and huCRPtg rats. The balance between autophagy and apoptosis was evaluated in DKD rats, and Crp-/- rats showed increased podocyte autophagy compared with wt and huCRPtg rats. Meanwhile, stable CRP-overexpression and CRP-knockout cell lines were established and used to demonstrate that CRP suppresses C3a-induced podocyte autophagy under high-glucose conditions. We further verified that the inhibition of C3a-induced podocyte autophagy by CRP was dependent on C3aR expression and that this effect could be reversed with a C3aR antagonist and agonist. Therefore, our findings provide evidence that CRP suppresses podocyte autophagy to accelerate the development of DKD by inhibiting C3a/C3aR axis signaling, which may help in the development of a new therapeutic strategy for the management of podocyte autophagy and DKD. In addition, rat CRP has been shown to be identical to human CRP in the activation of autologous complement and interspecific complement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Minjie Gong
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Zeyu Zhang
- School of Basic Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang, China
| | - Xiaodong Xue
- School of Computer Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jiarong Mao
- Department of pathology, Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, China
| | - Haibao Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Siqi Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Xiawan Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Feng Wu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, China
| | - Jingming Shi
- School of Basic Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang, China
| | - Guorong Fu
- Department of Nephrology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
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