title: Differential expression of new LTA splice variants upon lymphocyte activation.
abstract: Lymphotoxin alpha (LTA) is a member of the TNF cytokine superfamily, produced principally by lymphocytes. It plays an important role in immune and inflammatory responses. Many TNF superfamily members have functionally important isoforms generated by alternative splicing but alternative splicing of LTA has never been studied. The known LTA protein is encoded by a transcript containing four exons. Here we report seven new LTA splice variants, three of them evolutionary conserved. We demonstrate their presence in cytoplasmic RNA suggesting that they could be translated into new LTA isoforms. We observed that their expression is differentially regulated upon activation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and lymphocyte subpopulations (CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+). Our data suggest that the new LTA splice variants might play a role in the regulation of the immune response.
authors.affiliation: Immunogenetics Division, Pediatrics Department, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo (UNIFESP-EPM), R. Loefgreen 1235, 04040-031 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. annsmile141@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Anna S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Smirnova
authors.forename: Katia C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Ferreira-Silva
authors.forename: Karina L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Mine
authors.forename: Vinicius
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Andrade-Oliveira
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shulzhenko
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerbase-DeLima
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morgun
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha; D012333:RNA, Messenger