Endocrinology 2002 Jan 1;143(1):313-9
Matejuk A, Dwyer J, Zamora A, Vandenbark
AA, Offner H.
Department of Neurology, Oregon
Health Sciences University (A.M., A.A.V., H.O.), Portland, Oregon 97201.
The aim of this study was to identify immune-related genes affected by treatment with 17beta-estradiol (17beta-E2) that contribute to protection of T cell antigen receptor double transgenic mice from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).
The Affymetrix microarray system was used to screen more than 12,000 genes from E2-treated mice protected from EAE vs. control mice with severe EAE.
In general, E2 treatment affected about 10% of the genes tested, but only 18 cytokine, chemokine/receptor, adhesion molecule, or activation genes were up- or down-regulated more than 2.4-fold by E2 treatment.
Down-regulated genes included TNFalpha (an important proinflammatory cytokine in EAE); peptidoglycan recognition proteins (Pgrp); regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES); and neural cell adhesion molecule (MCP-1).
Up-regulated genes included cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4; known to inhibit T cell activation), TGFbeta3, IL-18, and two interferon-gamma-induced genes, the chemokines: monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta (MIP-1beta), vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM), and disintegrin metalloprotease (thought to regulate TNFalpha production).
These results implicate a limited
set of known and previously unsuspected E2-sensitive genes that may be
crucial for inhibition of EAE and potentially the human disease, multiple
sclerosis.
PMID: 11751623 [PubMed - in process]