Effects of systemic lupus erythematosus susceptible gene IFIT1 on chemokine expression in mouse macrophage cells / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effects of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility gene IFIT1 on chemokine expression in RAW264.7 macrophages and its possible role in the pathogenesis of SLE. Methods The expression vector of pEGFP-N1/IFIT1 was transfected into RAW264.7 cells by electroporation. 24 h after transfection, cells were stimulated with LPS ( 1 μg/ml). The transcriptional levels of chemokine MIP-1α, RANTES, CCL9, CXCL2 and IP-10 were measured at various time points after stimu-lation using real-time quantitative PCR. The chemokine expression levels in the kidneys of 8 week-old NZB/NZW F1 mice were also determined by real time PCR. Results Compared with cells transfected with null vector, IFIT1 high RAW264.7 cells produced significantly increased levels of MIP-1α, RANTES, CCL9, CXCL2 and IP-10 both at 4 h and 24 h after stimulation (P<0.05). Chemokine expression levels were signi-ficantly elevated in kidneys of 8 week-old NZB/NZW F1 mice compared with those of 8 week-old BALB/c mice controls (P<0.05). Conclusion IFIT1 may participate in target organ damages in SLE via augmentation of chemokine production by macrophage cells.