IOVS
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Originally published In Press as doi:10.1167/iovs.08-2596 on April 30, 2009
 (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2009;50:4753-4760.)
© 2009 by The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.
doi:10.1167/iovs.08-2596
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
iovs.08-2596v1
50/10/4753    most recent
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tsubota, K.
Right arrow Articles by Saito, I.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Tsubota, K.
Right arrow Articles by Saito, I.

The Role of Fractalkine as an Accelerating Factor on the Autoimmune Exocrinopathy in Mice

Kazuo Tsubota,1,2 Tatsuaki Nishiyama,2,3,4 Kenji Mishima,4 Hiroko Inoue,4 Takeshi Doi,3 Yukio Hattori,3 Tatsuhiko Kodama,5 Akihiro Higuchi, Yoshio Hayashi,6 and Ichiro Saito2,4

1From the Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 2Sjögren’s Syndrome Project, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan; 3Tokyo New Drug Research Laboratories, Kowa Co. Ltd., Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan; 4Department of Pathology, Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine, Yokohama, Japan; 5Laboratory for Systems Biology and Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; and 6Department of Pathology, School of Dentistry, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan.

PURPOSE. Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease caused by the progressive loss of exocrine glands and is associated with several autoimmune phenomena. Various research studies have been performed, and many molecules have been suggested as responsible for the pathogenesis of SS. Here the authors show the increased expression of fractalkine (CX3CL1) in lacrimal glands of SS model mice. Among more than 50 known chemokines, fractalkine is the sole member of the CX3C family and has unique structural and functional attributes. The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of fractalkine in exocrine glands.

METHODS. The expression of fractalkine in the lacrimal glands of thymectomized NFS/sld mice was investigated by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. To confirm the effects of fractalkine in exocrine glands, tissue-specific fractalkine transgenic mice were generated using the salivary amylase promoter.

RESULTS. The results demonstrated the upregulated fractalkine expression in thymectomized NFS/sld mice. Furthermore, the lacrimal and salivary gland-specific fractalkine transgenic mice showed the expression of fragmented fractalkine and lymphocytic infiltration in their lacrimal and submandibular glands. Interestingly, the dominant population was B cells in the lacrimal glands, whereas B cells and CD4+ T cells were infiltrated in the submandibular glands. These mice also demonstrated slightly decreased tear and salivary secretion compared with wild-type mice.

CONCLUSIONS. Based on these results, it may be that fractalkine contributes to the development of SS, especially in lymphocyte migration to exocrine glands, and that it accelerates the disease in association with other molecules.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology