Effect of mesenchymal stem cells transplantation on OAZ signaling pathway in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the in vivo effects of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells transplantation (MSCT) on OAZ signaling pathway in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods Isolated and expand human MSCs from bone marrow cells or umbilical cord of healthy donors were infused into SLE patients. Peripheral blood cells were collected from 10 pre-MSCT patients as well as 1 week and 4 week post-MSCT, and RNA was extracted and reverse transcripted to cDNA. mRNA expression levels of OAZ and Id1-3 were measured by using real-time PCR. Serum levels of IL-10, IL-12, IL-21, CCL2 and ANA were tested by ELISA. Relationships of the gene expression levels with levels of cytokines and ANA were analyzed. Results mRNA expression levels of OAZ, Id1 and Id3 gene in patients with SLE were significantly decreased at week 1(△C12.4±1.1, 9.7±1.9, 9.7±1.9, 2.1±1.0) and at week 4 (△Ct13.3±1.2, 10.4±1.5,10.8±1.2, 2.1±1.2) after MSCT when compared to those of the pre-MSCT (△Ct11.0±0.9, 7.4±2.1, 7.8±2.1, 0.1±1.5 respectively, P all＜0.05). Levels of IL-10, IL-21 and ANA were significantly lower 4 week after MSCT than those before (P＜0.05); while level of CCL2 was higher than pre-MSCT (P＜0.05). Cytokines and ANA levels 1 week after MSCT were not differentially changed comparing to those of the pre-MSCT. Alteration of OAZ mRNA expression levels pre- and post-MSCT were negatively correlated with changes of ANA, IL-21levels and positively correlated with changes of IL-12/IL-10 and CCL2 levels. Conclusions The expression of genes involving in the OAZ signaling pathway is effectively reduced along with the alteration of several cytokines and ANA after allogeneic MSCT in SLE patients. OAZ signaling pathway may play an important role in MSCT treatment for SLE.