Behçet’s disease (BD) is a chronic, multi systemic, recurrent vasculitis disease of unknown aetiology. The clinical manifestations are composed of relapsing episodes of recurrent oral ulcers, uveitis, skin lesions and genital ulcers along with musculoskeletal and neurological involvement. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are a key feature of the disease but the triggers for their induction are not well understood and/or controversial. Many cytokines (including IFNγ, IL-12, IL-23, IL-10 and IL-6) activate the JAK-STAT signalling pathway which is negatively regulated by Suppressor of Cytokine Signalling (SOCS) proteins. Therefore, it was hypothesised that SOCS proteins may be dysregulated in BD. The expression of SOCS 1-3 mRNA and protein was studied in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), Neutrophils and buccal mucosal cells (BMC) of BD patients and compared with healthy controls (HC) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) patients. SOCS 1 and 3 were significantly upregulated in PBMCs of BD patients compared with HC (p=0.0149; p=0.0007) and there were subtle differences between expression in relapsed and symptom free BD (quiet BD). SOCS1 and SOCS 3 also significantly upregulated in BMC from oral ulcers of BD compared with HC (both at p=0.0001). Cytokines were examined in serum, saliva and culture supernatants from stimulated PBMCs. IL-6 were significantly upregulated in the saliva of relapsed BD patients compared with HC (p=0.0104) and the capacity for IL-10 secretion from BD was compromised. Phosphorylation of STATs, transcription factors RORγt, T-bet and 48 protein kinases were investigated using a novel PhosphFlow method and by microarray analysis. STATs were upregulated in BD and seven novel kinase proteins showed differential phosphorylation in BD. Conclusion: SOCS 1-3 expression has changed in BD patients with differences in PBMC and Neutrophil expression between the SOCS proteins. Phosphorylation of STATs and several kinases show up-regulation in BD and seven kinases with altered phosphorylation states in BD were identified as novel targets for future investigation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:667141 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Hamedi, Mojgan |
| Publisher | Queen Mary, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/8557 |
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