Concerning the second, on distal chr1, coinciding with the Sle1 locus implicated in susceptibility to lupus-like autoimmune disease, a contribution by the fcgr2 candidate gene was excluded.
Congenic mice bearing the disease loci Sle1 or Sle1 and Sle3, which represent different stages of severity in the development of lupus, were crossed with PKCβ-deficient mice.
Alterations in B cell development, CDR-H3 repertoire and dsDNA-binding antibody production among C57BL/6 ΔD-iD mice congenic for the lupus susceptibility loci sle1, sle2 or sle3.
Treatment of lupus-prone B6.<i>Sle1.Yaa</i> mice with an anti-IL-21 blocking Ab reduced titers of autoantibodies, delayed progression of glomerulonephritis and diminished renal-infiltrating Tfh and Th1 cells, and improved overall survival.
To evaluate whether genetic deficiency of VISTA affects the development of lupus, we interbred VISTA-deficient mice with Sle1.Sle3 mice, a well-characterized model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Our findings establish the Sle1,3 strain as an NPSLE model, demonstrate that LCN2 is a major regulator of the detrimental neuroimmune response in NPSLE, and identify CSF LCN2 as a novel biomarker for NPSLE.