Objective: To determine whether synovial fluid (SF) levels and cell-surface expression of B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) protein and SF levels of APRIL are elevated in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA).
Methods: Same-day blood and SF samples from 89 patients with 103 knee effusions (81 knees with IA and 22 with noninflammatory arthritis [NIA]) were evaluated for BLyS protein and APRIL levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Blood and SF mononuclear cells were double-stained for surface BLyS protein and surface CD14 (monocyte marker) and were analyzed by flow cytometry.
A coordinated effort combining bioinformatic tools with high-throughput cell-based screening assays was implemented to identify novel factors involved in T-cell biology. We generated a unique library of cDNAs encoding predicted secreted and transmembrane domain-containing proteins generated by analyzing the Human Genome Sciences cDNA database with a combination of two algorithms that predict signal peptides. Supernatants from mammalian cells transiently transfected with this library were incubated with primary T cells and T-cell lines in several high-throughput assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDR3 is a death domain-containing receptor that is upregulated during T cell activation and whose overexpression induces apoptosis and NF-kappaB activation in cell lines. Here we show that an endothelial cell-derived TNF-like factor, TL1A, is a ligand for DR3 and decoy receptor TR6/DcR3 and that its expression is inducible by TNF and IL-1alpha. TL1A induces NF-kappaB activation and apoptosis in DR3-expressing cell lines, while TR6-Fc protein antagonizes these signaling events.
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