title: Perforin level in CD4+ T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: CD4(+) T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) exhibit increased expression of various proteins contributing to defective function of CD4(+) T cells. We evaluated the transcript and protein levels of perforin (PRF1) in CD4(+) T cells from SLE patients (n = 41) and healthy individuals (n = 34). The CD4(+) T cells were obtained by a positive biomagnetic separation system. The amounts of mRNA were determined by reverse transcription and real-time quantitative PCR. The protein levels in the CD4(+) T cells were evaluated by Western blotting analysis. We observed significantly higher levels of PRF1 protein (p = 0.013) in SLE CD4(+) T cells than in controls. There was no significant increase in PRF1 transcript levels (p = 0.908) in CD4(+) T cells from SLE patients as compared to healthy individuals. Moreover, we did not observe a correlation between PRF1 transcript and protein levels in SLE CD4(+) T cells and disease activity expressed by the SLEDAI scale. We confirmed previous observations that demonstrated higher levels of PRF1 protein in CD4(+) T cells from SLE patients. However, we did not find a correlation between PRF1 transcripts and proteins in CD4(+) T cells and SLE disease activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 6 Święcickiego St., 60-781, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kozłowska
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hrycaj
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Łącki
authors.forename: Paweł Piotr
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Jagodziński
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D007596:Joints / Q000503:physiopathology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D054353:Perforin; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: C510468:PRF1 protein, human; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054353:Perforin