Higher FoxP3 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of GAD65 or IA-2 autoantibody-positive compared with autoantibody-negative persons
MAIRE LINK, LIINA SALUR, KAI KISAND RAJASALU,
VALLO TILLMANN, RAIVO UIBO,
KAI KISAND RAJASALU
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
RAIVO UIBO
Immunology Group, IGMP
Raivo Uibo, Institute of General and Molecular Pathology, Ravila 19, Tartu, Estonia, 50411. e-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorMAIRE LINK, LIINA SALUR, KAI KISAND RAJASALU,
VALLO TILLMANN, RAIVO UIBO,
KAI KISAND RAJASALU
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
RAIVO UIBO
Immunology Group, IGMP
Raivo Uibo, Institute of General and Molecular Pathology, Ravila 19, Tartu, Estonia, 50411. e-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author†
Received 3 July 2007.
Accepted 22 April 2008.
Abstract
The role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in type 1 diabetes has been studied extensively. The most prevalent way to define Tregs has been by their surface expression of CD4 and CD25. As currently the transcription factor FoxP3 and the low expression of CD127 are regarded to be the most specific markers of Tregs, we analysed the number of Tregs defined by these molecules in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of diabetic patients and healthy controls. The gene expression of transforming growth factor β and two isoforms of FoxP3 was measured as well. There were no significant differences between diabetic patients and healthy controls regarding the number of Tregs, or the expression of FoxP3 isoforms and TGFβ in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. However, we found significantly higher expression of both full-length and Δ2FoxP3 in study subjects, positive for either GAD65 or IA-2 autoantibodies. The ratio of the expression of different isoforms was not changed. This study shows the possible role of FoxP3 in the development of tissue characteristic humoral immunity in type 1 diabetes.
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