title: The gene expression profile of preclinical autoimmune arthritis and its modulation by a tolerogenic disease-protective antigenic challenge.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autoimmune inflammation is a characteristic feature of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune diseases. In the natural course of human autoimmune diseases, it is rather difficult to pinpoint the precise timing of the initial event that triggers the cascade of pathogenic events that later culminate into clinically overt disease. Therefore, it is a challenge to examine the early preclinical events in these disorders. Animal models are an invaluable resource in this regard. Furthermore, considering the complex nature of the pathogenic immune events in arthritis, microarray analysis offers a versatile tool to define the dynamic patterns of gene expression during the disease course.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we defined the profiles of gene expression at different phases of adjuvant arthritis (AA) in Lewis rats and compared them with those of antigen mycobacterial heat shock protein 65 (Bhsp65)-tolerized syngeneic rats. Purified total RNA (100 ng) extracted from the draining lymph node cells was used to generate biotin-labeled fragment cRNA, which was then hybridized with an oligonucleotide-based DNA microarray chip. Significance analysis of microarrays was used to compare gene expression levels between the two different groups by limiting the false discovery rate to < 5%. Some of the data were further analyzed using a fold change ≥2.0 as the cutoff. The gene expression of select genes was validated by quantitative real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intriguingly, the most dramatic changes in gene expression in the draining lymphoid tissue ex vivo were observed at the preclinical (incubation) phase of the disease. The affected genes represented many of the known proteins that participate in the cellular immune response. Interestingly, the preclinical gene expression profile was significantly altered by a disease-modulating, antigen-based tolerogenic regimen. The changes mostly included upregulation of several genes, suggesting that immune tolerance suppressed disease by activating disease-regulating pathways. We identified a molecular signature comprising at least 12 arthritis-related genes altered by Bhsp65-induced tolerance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report of microarray analysis in the rat AA model. The results of this study not only advance our understanding of the early phase events in autoimmune arthritis but also help in identifying potential targets for the immunomodulation of RA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 West Baltimore Street, HSF-1, Suite 380, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Changwan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ming T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Kamal D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Moudgil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000235:genetics*; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000276:immunology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018834:Chaperonin 60; C074119:heat-shock protein 65, Mycobacterium