The -431C>T polymorphism of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine increases the promoter activity but is not associated with susceptibility to atopic dermatitis in Japanese patients.
BACKGROUND
Thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). We recently detected the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (-431C>T) in the 5'-flanking region of TARC gene.


OBJECTIVE
To examine whether the -431C>T SNP of the TARC gene is associated with susceptibility to AD and whether it affects the promoter activity of the TARC gene.


METHODS
We investigated the genotype and allele frequencies of the SNP in 193 AD patients and 158 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. We compared the promoter activities between TARC promoter carrying 431C and that carrying -431T by transient-transfection assay in DJM-1 cell line.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies between AD patients and controls (genotype: P = 0.38, allele: P = 0.22). Luciferase activity was higher in -431T constructs than in -431C constructs (2.3-fold, P = 9.5 x 10(-6)).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the -431C>T SNP of the TARC gene enhances the promoter activity of TARC gene but is not associated with susceptibility to AD in Japanese population.
Tsunemi
Yuichiro
Y
Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. ytsun-tky@umin.ac.jp
Komine
Mayumi
M
Sekiya
Takashi
T
Saeki
Hidehisa
H
Nakamura
Koichiro
K
Hirai
Koichi
K
Kakinuma
Takashi
T
Kagami
Shinji
S
Fujita
Hideki
H
Asano
Noriko
N
Tanida
Yuka
Y
Wakugawa
Motoshi
M
Torii
Hideshi
H
Tamaki
Kunihiko
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D054414:Chemokine CCL17; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008156:Luciferases / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014162:Transfection
C106230:CCL17 protein, human; D054414:Chemokine CCL17; D019742:Chemokines, CC; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D008156:Luciferases