Project description:The etiology of autoimmune hepatitis is poorly understood but likely involves Th1 cells producing IFN-γ. BALB/c background TGF-β1-/- mice rapidly develop fulminant Th1-mediated autoimmune hepatitis. Our aims are to profile liver gene expression in TGF-β1-/- mice, to identify gene expression pathways dependent on IFN-γ as possible targets for rational therapy, and to test potential targets directly in vivo in mice. Keywords: Comparative analysis of gene expression in livers of WT, TGFB1 & IFN knockout mice
Project description:The etiology of autoimmune hepatitis is poorly understood but likely involves Th1 cells producing IFN-γ. BALB/c background TGF-β1-/- mice rapidly develop fulminant Th1-mediated autoimmune hepatitis. Our aims are to profile liver gene expression in TGF-β1-/- mice, to identify gene expression pathways dependent on IFN-γ as possible targets for rational therapy, and to test potential targets directly in vivo in mice. Keywords: Comparative analysis of gene expression in livers of WT, TGFB1 & IFN knockout mice DNA microarray analyses were applied to liver RNA from TGF-β1-/- mice, TGF-β1-/- /IFN-γ-/- mice, and TGF-β1+/+ littermate controls. 3 mice from each group were analyzed in this study.
Project description:Autoimmune regulator (Aire) and TGF-β signaling play an important role in central tolerance and peripheral tolerance respectively, by eliminating or suppressing the activity of autoreactive T cells. We have previously demonstrated that dnTGFβRII mice develop a defect in peripheral tolerance and a primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) like disease. We hypothesized that by introducing the AIRE gene to this model, we would observe a more severe PBC phenotype. Interestingly, however, we demonstrate that while dnTGFβRII Aire-/- mice do manifest key histologic and serologic features of autoimmune cholangitis, they also develop mild to moderate interface hepatitis and show high levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA), characteristics of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). To further understand this unique phenotype, we performed RNA-seq and flow cytometry to explore the functional pathways and immune cell pathways in the liver of dnTGFβRII Aire-/- mice. Our data revealed enrichments of programmed cell death pathways and predominant CD8+ T cell infiltrates. Depleting CD8+ T cells using an anti-CD8α antibody significantly alleviated hepatic inflammation and prolonged the lifespan of these mice. Finally, RNA-seq data indicated the clonal expansion of hepatic CD8+ T cells. In conclusion, these mice develop an autoreactive CD8+ T cell mediated autoimmune cholangitis with concurrent hepatitis that exhibits key histological and serological features of the AIH-PBC overlap syndrome, representing a novel model for the study of tolerance and autoimmune liver disease.
Project description:To explore the effect of Bicd2 in ConA-induced acute autoimmune hepatitis, we conducted RNA transcriptome profiling of plko-scramble or shBicd2 plasmid hydrodynamic-injected mice livers in response to ConA injection.
