title: Role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the regulation of activated synovial T cell growth: down-regulation of synovial T cells in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
abstract: To characterize the role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in regulating synovial T cell growth, cell cycle progression associated with TNF-alpha in mitogen-activated synovial T cells of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were analyzed. After mitogen stimulation, the majority of synovial T cells in RA patients accumulated in S-phase. Anti-human TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody and soluble recombinant human TNF receptor (rhTNFR) can block S-phase accumulation. Furthermore, synovial fluid (SF) from RA patients was able to inhibit the proliferation of these S-phase-accumulated T cells. These data indicate that TNF-alpha could regulate activated synovial T cell growth by driving them into S-phase. Combined with the activities of other components of SF, TNF-alpha seems to play an important role in down-regulating activated synovial T cells in RA patients. In addition, the elevated level of soluble TNFR in the SFof disease-active RA patients is believed to be associated with the promotion of synovial T cell responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Veterans General Hospital-Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D016196:S Phase / Q000276:immunology; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha