The multifaceted balance of TNF-a and type I / II interferon responses in SLE and RA: how monocytes manage the impact of cytokines
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ABSTRACT: Many cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and are recognized as relevant therapeutic targets to attenuate inflammation, such as TNFα in RA and IFNα/γ in SLE. To relate the transcriptional imprinting of cytokines in a cell type-specific and disease-specific manner, we generated gene-expression profiles from peripheral monocytes of SLE and RA patients and compared them to in vitro-generated signatures induced by TNFα, IFNα2a and IFNγ. Monocytes from SLE and RA patients revealed disease-specific gene-expression profiles. In vitro-generated signatures induced by IFNα2a and IFNγ showed similar profiles that only partially overlapped with those induced by TNFα. Comparisons between disease-specific and in vitro-generated signatures identified cytokine-regulated genes in SLE and RA with qualitative and quantitative differences. The IFN-responses in SLE and RA were found to be regulated in a STAT1-dependent and STAT1-independent manner, respectively. Similarly, genes recognized as TNFα-regulated were clearly distinguishable between RA and SLE patients. While the activity of SLE monocytes was mainly driven by IFN, the activity from RA monocytes showed a dominance of TNFα that was characterized by STAT1 down-regulation. The responses to specific cytokines were revealed to be disease-dependent and reflected the interplay of cytokines within various inflammatory milieus. This study has demonstrated that monocytes from RA and SLE patients exhibit disease-specific gene-expression profiles, which can be molecularly dissected when compared to in vitro-generated cytokine signatures. The results suggest that an assessment of cytokine-response status in monocytes may be helpful for improvement of diagnosis and selection of the best cytokine target for therapeutic intervention.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE38351 | GEO | 2012/06/14
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA168483
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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