title: Leptin promotes lupus T-cell autoimmunity.
abstract: In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the impairment in apoptosis can facilitate the initiation and maintenance of autoimmune responses to self antigens. Here we show that the adipocytokine leptin, which is abnormally elevated in SLE, promotes the survival and proliferation of autoreactive T-cells in mice with an autoreactive T-cell repertoire, including (NZB x NZW)F1 lupus-prone mice. This ability of leptin to promote lupus T-cell autoimmunity suggests the possibility of a therapeutic targeting of leptin in SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amarilyo
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iikuni
authors.forename: Fu-Dong
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Aijing
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matarese
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Cava
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D020738:Leptin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008814:Mice, Inbred NZB; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D060168:Thymocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D020738:Leptin; D003907:Dexamethasone
keywords: Apoptosis; Autoimmunity; Autoreactive T cells; Systemic lupus erythematosus