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. 2023 Nov 10;24(22):16176.
doi: 10.3390/ijms242216176.

Exploring the mRNA and Plasma Protein Levels of BDNF, NT4, SIRT1, HSP27, and HSP70 in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and Healthy Controls

Igor Sokolowski  1 , Aleksandra Kucharska-Lusina  1 , Elzbieta Miller  2 , Ireneusz Majsterek  1
Affiliations

Exploring the mRNA and Plasma Protein Levels of BDNF, NT4, SIRT1, HSP27, and HSP70 in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and Healthy Controls

Igor Sokolowski et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune neurodegenerative disease affecting the central nervous system. It is a major cause of non-traumatic neurological disability among young adults in North America and Europe. This study focuses on neuroprotective genes (BDNF, NT4/5, SIRT1, HSP70, and HSP27). Gene expression and protein levels of these markers were compared between MS patients and healthy controls. Blood samples were collected from 42 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 48 control subjects without MS. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to measure the expression of specific genes. The samples were analyzed in duplicate, and the abundance of mRNA was quantified using the 2-ΔCt method. ELISA assay was used to measure the concentration of specific proteins in the plasma samples. The results show that a 3.5-fold decrease in the gene expression of BDNF corresponds to a 1.5-fold downregulation in the associated plasma protein concentration (p < 0.001). Similar trends were observed with NT-4 (five-fold decrease, slight elevation in protein), SIRT1 (two-fold decrease, two-fold protein decrease), HSP70 (four-fold increase, nearly two-fold protein increase), and HSP27 (four-fold increase, two-fold protein increase) (p < 0.001). This study reveals strong correlations between gene expression and protein concentration in MS patients, emphasizing the relevance of these neuroprotective markers in the disease.

Keywords: BDNF; ELISA; HSP27; HSP70; NT-4; SIRT1; correlation; gene expression; multiple sclerosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression levels of BDNF (A), NT-4 (B), SIRT1 (C), HSP70 (D), and HSP27 (E) in PBMCs from MS patients and healthy controls. Statistical analysis of differences between the groups of data was carried out using the Mann–Whitney U test (**** indicates statistical significance at a p < 0.0001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Protein concentrations of BDNF (A), NT-4 (B), SIRT1 (C), HSP70 (D), and HSP27 (E) in PBMCs from MS patients and healthy controls. Statistical analysis of differences between the groups of data was carried out using the Mann–Whitney U test (**** indicates statistical significance at a p < 0.0001, ** indicates statistical significance at a p < 0.01).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Assessment of correlations between gene expression and protein concentration of BDNF (A), NT-4 (B), SIRT1 (C), HSP70 (D), and HSP27 (E) in PBMCs from multiple sclerosis patients. Statistical significance was analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation test (p < 0.0001).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Assessment of correlations between gene expression and protein concentration of BDNF (A), NT-4 (B), SIRT1 (C), HSP70 (D), and HSP27 (E) in PBMCs from healthy volunteers. Statistical significance was analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation test (p < 0.0001).
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