title: Downregulation of Immunosuppressive Molecules, PD-1 and PD-L1 but not PD-L2, in the Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.
abstract: Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, have been regarded as important immune system regulatory molecules. The aberrant expression of the molecules has been related to several autoimmune disorders. This study is aimed to assess the mRNA expression level of PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 molecules in the peripheral blood mononuclear mells (PBMCs) from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. PBMCs were isolated from the whole blood of 50 MS and 50 healthy individuals. Total RNA content of the leukocytes was extracted. Then, cDNA was synthesized from the extracted RNA. Afterwards, quantitative analysis of PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 was carried out through Real Time PCR using the TaqMan gene expression assays. Relative expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in PBMCs from MS patients was significantly lower compared with the healthy control group (p=0.003 and 0.012, respectively). However, no significant difference was observed in the expression level of PD-L2 between patients and healthy individuals. Relative expression of PD-1 correlated with expanded disability status scale score (EDSS) of the patients (r=-0.763, p=0.008). Downregulation of the immunosuppressive molecules, PD-1 and PD-L1, may imply that over-activation of immune cells in multiple sclerosis occurs through signaling dysfunction of these molecules and PD-L2 plays no important role in this context.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran AND Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Javan
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aslani
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Network of Immunity in Infection, Autoimmunity and Malignancy (NIIMA), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rostamnejad
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Milad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farhoodi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AND Molecular Immunology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hossein
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Nicknam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D060890:B7-H1 Antigen / Q000276:immunology*; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D061027:Programmed Cell Death 1 Ligand 2 Protein / Q000276:immunology*; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000276:immunology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D060890:B7-H1 Antigen; C423236:CD274 protein, human; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; C556977:PDCD1LG2 protein, human; D061027:Programmed Cell Death 1 Ligand 2 Protein; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor
keywords: Gene expression; Multiple sclerosis; Programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 protein; Programmed cell death 1 ligand 2 protein; Programmed cell death 1 receptor