title: Higher expression of BDNF receptor gp145trkB is associated with lower apoptosis intensity in T cell lines in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Conflicting data exist on expression of gp145trkB, the high affinity receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), on peripheral blood immunocompetent cells in multiple sclerosis (MS). We analyzed expression of gp145trkB by western blotting and flow cytometry in myelin basic protein (MBP)- and ovalbumin (OVA)-T cell lines prepared from 12 patients with relapsing-remitting MS and 12 normal healthy subjects (NHS) and correlated it with activation-induced apoptosis. We found a higher percentage of gp145trkB-expressing MBP-T cells in MS patients than in NHS (p=0.011). gp145trkB was mainly expressed by CD8(+) T cells to a higher extent in MS patients than in NHS (p=0.04). MBP-T cell lines from MS patients showed significantly lower apoptosis intensity than those from NHS (p=0.011). We found also a significant negative correlation between gp145trkB expression and apoptosis intensity in MS patients only (p=0.02). OVA-T cell lines showed a gp145trkB expression similar to that of MBP-T cell lines, with a higher expression in MS patients than NHS, and similar correlations with apoptosis intensity in MS. These findings suggest that gp145trkB is mainly expressed on T cell lines from MS patients and that the BDNF/gp145trkB axis is involved in the regulation of peripheral T cell apoptosis in MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological and Behavioural Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Santi
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cantalupo
authors.forename: Maristella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tassi
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raspadori
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cioni
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Annunziata
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D020813:Receptor, trkB / Q000235:genetics*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D020813:Receptor, trkB