Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jan;48(1):77-82.
doi: 10.1590/1414-431x20143701. Epub 2014 Oct 17.

Downregulation of TIM-3 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

X Z Cai  1 , W Y Huang  1 , Y Qiao  1 , Y Chen  1 , S Y Du  1 , D Chen  1 , S Yu  1 , N Liu  2 , L Y Dou  1 , Y Jiang  1
Affiliations

Downregulation of TIM-3 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

X Z Cai et al. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2015 Jan.

Abstract

The T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM) family is associated with autoimmune diseases, but its expression level in the immune cells of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the expression of TIM-3 mRNA is associated with pathogenesis of SLE. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis (qRT-PCR) was used to determine TIM-1, TIM-3, and TIM-4 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 132 patients with SLE and 62 healthy controls. The PBMC surface protein expression of TIMs in PBMCs from 20 SLE patients and 15 healthy controls was assayed by flow cytometry. Only TIM-3 mRNA expression decreased significantly in SLE patients compared with healthy controls (P<0.001). No significant differences in TIM family protein expression were observed in leukocytes from SLE patients and healthy controls (P>0.05). SLE patients with lupus nephritis (LN) had a significantly lower expression of TIM-3 mRNA than those without LN (P=0.001). There was no significant difference in the expression of TIM-3 mRNA within different classes of LN (P>0.05). Correlation of TIM-3 mRNA expression with serum IgA was highly significant (r=0.425, P=0.004), but was weakly correlated with total serum protein (rs=0.283, P=0.049) and serum albumin (rs=0.297, P=0.047). TIM-3 mRNA expression was weakly correlated with the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI; rs=-0.272, P=0.032). Our results suggest that below-normal expression of TIM-3 mRNA in PBMC may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. TIM-3 mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (n=132) and healthy controls (Con; n=62). Data are reported in box plots as medians, quartiles, and outsiders (circles). P<0.001, SLE patients compared to healthy controls (Mann-Whitney test).
Figure 2
Figure 2. TIM-3 mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with and without lupus nephritis (LN). Data are reported in box plots as medians and quartiles. P=0.001, SLE patients with LN (n=52) compared to SLE patients without LN (n=80) (Mann-Whitney test).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Freeman GJ, Casasnovas JM, Umetsu DT, DeKruyff RH. TIM genes: a family of cell surface phosphatidylserine receptors that regulate innate and adaptive immunity. Immunol Rev. 2010;235:172–189. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sanchez-Fueyo A, Tian J, Picarella D, Domenig C, Zheng XX, Sabatos CA, et al. Tim-3 inhibits T helper type 1-mediated auto- and alloimmune responses and promotes immunological tolerance. Nat Immunol. 2003;4:1093–1101. doi: 10.1038/ni987. - DOI - PubMed
    1. McIntire JJ, Umetsu SE, Akbari O, Potter M, Kuchroo VK, Barsh GS, et al. Identification of Tapr (an airway hyperreactivity regulatory locus) and the linked Tim gene family. Nat Immunol. 2001;2:1109–1116. doi: 10.1038/ni739. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Khademi M, Illes Z, Gielen AW, Marta M, Takazawa N, Baecher-Allan C, et al. T Cell Ig- and mucin-domain-containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) and TIM-1 molecules are differentially expressed on human Th1 and Th2 cells and in cerebrospinal fluid-derived mononuclear cells in multiple sclerosis. J Immunol. 2004;172:7169–7176. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.172.11.7169. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhu C, Anderson AC, Schubart A, Xiong H, Imitola J, Khoury SJ, et al. The Tim-3 ligand galectin-9 negatively regulates T helper type 1 immunity. Nat Immunol. 2005;6:1245–1252. doi: 10.1038/ni1271. - DOI - PubMed