title: Cadherin-11 mRNA transcripts are frequently found in rheumatoid arthritis peripheral blood and correlate with established polyarthritis.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fibroblasts hyperexpress the mesenchymal cadherin-11, which is involved also in tumor invasion/metastasis, whereas anti-cadherin-11 therapeutics prevent and reduce experimental arthritis. To test the hypothesis that cadherin-11 is aberrantly expressed in RA peripheral blood, 100 patients (15 studied serially) and 70 healthy controls were analyzed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Cadherin-11 mRNA transcripts were detected in 69.2% of moderately/severely active RA, versus 31.8% of remaining patients (p=0.001), versus 17.1% of controls (p<0.0001). Notably, cadherin-11 positivity correlated significantly and independently only with established (>1year) polyarthritis (>4 swollen tender joints), by multivariate logistic regression analysis including various possible clinical/laboratory factors. Rare cells of undefined nature, detected by flow cytometry following CD45(-) enrichment, strongly expressed surface cadherin-11 (estimated 10-50cells/ml of blood) in 5/6 patients with polyarticular established disease versus 1/6 patients with early RA. Studies on the potential pathogenic role of circulating cells expressing cadherin-11 in RA are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, First Department of Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Greece. Electronic address: psfikakis@med.uoa.gr.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Sfikakis
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, First Department of Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Greece; Department of Physiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Christopoulos
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, First Department of Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Greece; Department of Physiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Vaiopoulos
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, First Department of Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fragiadaki
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, First Department of Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Katsiari
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kapsimali
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, First Department of Propaedeutic and Internal Medicine, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lallas
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panayiotidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Korkolopoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koutsilieris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C086960:osteoblast cadherin
keywords: Biomarker; Cadherin-11; Peripheral blood; Polyarthritis; Rheumatoid arthritis; Synovial fibroblast