The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of rapamycin, under the generic name sirolimus, on CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with low disease activity or in DAS28 remission.
TNFR2 associates with FoxP3 stability and identifies asubset of regulatory T cells that are specifically expanded by anti-TNF treatments in rheumatoid arthritis.
As Foxp3 is also expressed on activated CD4<sup>+</sup> cells in the presence of inflammation, the identification of Treg cells in patients with RA remains a challenge.
The human miR-34a, increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, displayed a positive correlation with some serum markers of inflammation including rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-streptolysin antibody (ASO), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as Th17 signature gene RORγt, but inversely correlated with the mRNA expression levels of FOXP3.
Our findings link T cell maldifferentiation and tissue infiltration with Tip60-mediated Foxp3 acetylation and identify Tip60 as a potential therapeutic target for suppression of tissue inflammation and autoimmunogenesis in RA.
Expression of the Treg transcription factor FoxP3 was the highest in inactive RA and the lowest in active RA, while the Th17 transcription factor RORc showed a reverse trend.
In the current study, we analyzed the epigenetic modulation of the Foxp3 Treg-specific demethylated region (TSDR) and Helios gene expression to determine Treg cells alteration in RA patients.
The in vitro effects of hCDR1 on gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and regulatory molecules were tested in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 16 pSS patients. hCDR1, but not a control peptide, significantly reduced gene expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, MX-1 and BlyS and up-regulated immunosuppressive (TGF-β, FOXP3) molecules in PBMC of pSS patients. hCDR1 did not affect gene expression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and anti-phospholipid syndrome.
The level of CD4+CXCR5+FoxP3+ Tfr cells and the Tfr cell:Tfh cell ratio in peripheral blood from patients with RA in stable remission were significantly increased compared with the same measures in patients with active RA and in healthy controls.
Herein, we investigated the therapeutic potential of primed and unprimed retrovirus mediated Foxp3-overexpression T cells following intravenously injected of these cells into affected rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis.
It was observed that in peripheral blood, CD4+CD25-FOXP3+/CD4+ levels were reduced in the RA group (P<0.001), and sPD‑1 levels were markedly higher (P<0.001), compared with the HC group.
In addition, we summarize the role of dendritic cells and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in both peripheral and thymic tolerance, and highlight their relevance to what we know about the aetiology of RA.
The expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis revealed a significant gender effect of the FoxP3 promoter polymorphism rs3761548A/C on miR-221, miR-222 and miR-532 expression levels, and of the FoxP3 polymorphism rs2232365A/G on miR-221 expression levels in PBMC of RA patients.
Despite their reduced suppressive activity, Tregs in the RA joint were highly proliferative and expressed FOXP3, CD39, and CTLA-4, which are markers of functional Tregs.
After appropriate adjustment of Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, the genotype-phenotype analysis showed no significant correlation of the Foxp3-3279 C/A and -924 A/G polymorphisms with the disease activity, joint damage, laboratory variables, and extraarticular manifestation in patients with RA.
CTLA-4 and FoxP3 expression was measured by flow cytometry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in Treg cells from healthy individuals and RA patients.
In this study, we demonstrated that the frequencies of CD3(+) CD4(+) IL-17(+) Th17 cells were significantly higher, and CD4(+) CD25(+) FOXP3(+) Treg cells significantly lower in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from RA patients.
Furthermore, DMR methylation negatively correlated with FOXP3 mRNA expression, and Treg cells isolated from rheumatoid factor negative RA patients were found to express significantly higher levels of FOXP3 than Treg cells from RhF-positive patients, with an associated decrease in DMR methylation.