Abstract

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder of the exocrine glands with associated lymphocytic infiltrates in the affected glands. Dryness of the mouth and eyes results from involvement of the salivary and lacrimal glands. The efficacy of Rituximab (RTX) in pSS is still open to debate. This study delineates the signaling pathway involved in RTX-mediated down-regulation of pro-inflammatory factors in a co-culture system of pSS salivary gland epithelial cells (SGEC) with syngeneic pSS B-lymphocytes. In addition, the effects of RTX on the activation of the Raf-1/ERK1/2 pathway in pSS SGEC co-cultured with syngeneic pSS T-lymphocytes were also investigated. This study demonstrated that RTX may interfere with the ERK1/2 pathway in a syngeneic co-culture of pSS SGEC with pSS B-lymphocytes, leading to decreased cytokine production by SGEC. These novel findings reveal that syngeneic co-culture of pSS SGEC with pSS B-lymphocytes leads to a down-regulation of Raf-1 in epithelial cells that adversely regulates the activity of the ERK1/2 pathway and determines a subsequent reduction of the release of pro-inflammatory factors.

Autore Pugliese

• Lofrumento Dario Domenico

Tutti gli autori

• Lisi S. , Sisto M. , D'Amore M. , Lofrumento D.D.

Titolo volume/Rivista

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOLOGY

Anno di pubblicazione

2015

ISSN

0953-8178

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

3

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

25/04/2018

Numero di citazioni Scopus

3

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

26/04/2018

Settori ERC

Non Disponibile

Codici ASJC

Non Disponibile