title: Leukocyte Beta-Catenin Expression Is Disturbed in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
abstract: Wnt/β-catenin signaling is relatively understudied in immunity and autoimmunity. β-catenin blocks inflammatory mediators and favors tolerogenic dendritic cell (DC) phenotypes. We show here that leukocytes from lupus-prone mice and SLE patients express diminished β-catenin transcriptional activity, particularly in myeloid cells, although other leukocytes revealed similar trends. Serum levels of DKK-1, an inhibitor under transcriptional control of Wnt/β-catenin, were also decreased in lupus-prone mice. Surprisingly, however, preemptive deletion of β-catenin from macrophages appears to have no effect on lupus development, even in mice with varying genetic loads for lupus. Although myeloid-specific loss of β-catenin does not seem to be important for lupus development, the potential role of this transcription factor in other leukocytes and renal cells remain to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatic Diseases Division, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jacob J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Orme
authors.affiliation: The Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatic Diseases Division, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.|The Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: The Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatic Diseases Division, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.|The Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kamala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vanarsa
authors.affiliation: The Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatic Diseases Division, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.|The Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tianfu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: The Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatic Diseases Division, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Anne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Satterthwaite
authors.affiliation: The Department of Internal Medicine Rheumatic Diseases Division, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States of America.|The Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chandra
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7896-5740
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mohan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060466:Axin Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D038702:Follistatin-Related Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D060466:Axin Protein; C111729:Axin2 protein, mouse; C495267:CTNNB1 protein, mouse; C501127:Dkk1 protein, mouse; D038702:Follistatin-Related Proteins; C448720:Fstl1 protein, mouse; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin