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Perforin level in CD4+ T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

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Abstract

CD4+ T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) exhibit increased expression of various proteins contributing to defective function of CD4+ T cells. We evaluated the transcript and protein levels of perforin (PRF1) in CD4+ T cells from SLE patients (n = 41) and healthy individuals (n = 34). The CD4+ T cells were obtained by a positive biomagnetic separation system. The amounts of mRNA were determined by reverse transcription and real-time quantitative PCR. The protein levels in the CD4+ T cells were evaluated by Western blotting analysis. We observed significantly higher levels of PRF1 protein (p = 0.013) in SLE CD4+ T cells than in controls. There was no significant increase in PRF1 transcript levels (p = 0.908) in CD4+ T cells from SLE patients as compared to healthy individuals. Moreover, we did not observe a correlation between PRF1 transcript and protein levels in SLE CD4+ T cells and disease activity expressed by the SLEDAI scale. We confirmed previous observations that demonstrated higher levels of PRF1 protein in CD4+ T cells from SLE patients. However, we did not find a correlation between PRF1 transcripts and proteins in CD4+ T cells and SLE disease activity.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by a grant No 502-01-01124182-07474, Poznań University of Medical Sciences. We would like to acknowledge Margarita Lianeri for editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 6 Święcickiego St., 60-781, Poznan, Poland

    Anna Kozłowska & Paweł Piotr Jagodziński

  2. Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland

    Paweł Hrycaj

  3. Institute of Rheumatology, Warsaw, Poland

    Jan K. Łącki

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  1. Anna Kozłowska
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  2. Paweł Hrycaj
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  3. Jan K. Łącki
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Correspondence to Paweł Piotr Jagodziński.

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Kozłowska, A., Hrycaj, P., Łącki, J.K. et al. Perforin level in CD4+ T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatol Int 30, 1627–1633 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-009-1329-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-009-1329-1

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