Impacts of GFP-FoxP3 regulatory T cells on lupus hallmarks differ by genetic background and type of GFP knock-in.

FoxP3 reporter mice expressing green fluorescence protein (GFP) have been used as a very convenient tool to investigate the impact of regulatory T (Treg) cells on pathogenesis in autoimmune diseases. Here, we found that GFP-FoxP3 knock-in (KI) mice showed alterations in the production of anti-nuclear autoantibodies (ANAs) and nephritis with different extent, depending on the presence or absence of lupus susceptibility gene locus 1 () and KI method: contrasting with B6..

Autoregulatory function of interleukin-10-producing pre-naïve B cells is defective in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Introduction: Pre-naïve B cells represent an intermediate stage in human B-cell development with some functions of mature cells, but their involvement in immune responses is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the functional role of normal pre-naïve B cells during immune responses and possible abnormalities in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that might contribute to disease pathogenesis.

Methods: Pre-naïve, naïve, and memory B cells from healthy individuals and SLE patients were stimulated through CD40 and were analyzed for interleukin-10 (IL-10) production and co-stimulatory molecule expression and their regulation of T-cell activation.

The lupus susceptibility locus Sle1 facilitates the peripheral development and selection of anti-DNA B cells through impaired receptor editing.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is characterized by the spontaneous production of IgG autoantibodies in patients and lupus-prone mice. In this study, we investigated the effect of the Sle1 lupus susceptibility locus on the peripheral development of 56R(+) anti-DNA transgenic B cells by tracking 56R(+) B cells in mice without (B6.56R) or with (B6.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-expressing dendritic cells are involved in the generation of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in Peyer's patches in an orally tolerized, collagen-induced arthritis mouse model.

Introduction: The present study was devised to understand the role of systemic indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in the tolerance induction for orally tolerized mice in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). We examined whether IDO-expressing dendritic cells (DCs) are involved in the generation of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells during the induction of oral tolerance in a murine CIA model.

Methods: Type II collagen was fed six times to DBA/1 mice beginning 2 weeks before immunization, and the effect on arthritis was assessed.

Transforming growth factor beta 1(TGF-beta1) down-regulates TNFalpha-induced RANTES production in rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts through NF-kappaB-mediated transcriptional repression.

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 is a pleiotropic cytokine with many functions, including those related to growth modulation, immunosuppression, and pro-inflammation, in a wide variety of cell types. In this study, we investigated the ability of TGF-beta1 to regulate RANTES production by activated rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) were cultured in the presence of TGF-beta1 and IL-1beta, IL-15, TNFalpha, or IL-17, and the secretion of RANTES into culture supernatants was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).