Abstract
Autoimmune-prone lpr mice develop lymphoproliferative disorders, whereas their lymphocytes show accelerated apoptosis in culture. To elucidate whether the bcl-2 protein, a repressor of apoptosis, is critical to the discrepancy between in vivo and in vitro survival, we examined bcl-2 expression in T cells from +/+ and lpr mice during culture. The expression levels of bcl-2 in cultured T cells from lpr mice were significantly down-modulated compared to those from +/+ mice and freshly obtained T cells. Besides, the reduction of bcl-2 protein levels was inhibited in T cells cultured in the presence of T cell receptor (TCR) signalling. These results suggest that lpr T cells might be susceptible to apoptosis in vitro due to down-modulation of bcl-2 by withdrawal of TCR signalling.
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Matsumoto, Y., Shinzato, T., Takai, I. et al. lpr T cells have lower ability to maintain bcl-2 expression ex vivo. Apoptosis 2, 283–288 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026437120118
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026437120118