Immune Netw.  2003 Dec;3(4):310-319. 10.4110/in.2003.3.4.310.

Regulation of Interleukin-17 Production in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis by Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/ Akt and Nuclear Factor KappaB (NF-kappaB) Dependent Signal Transduction Pathway

• Kim KW
• Cho ML
• Lee SH
• Min SY
• Park MK
• Park SH
• Jue DM
• Kim HY

• KMID: 2054236
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4110/in.2003.3.4.310

Abstract

Inflammatory mediators has been recognized as an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IL-17 is increasingly recognized as an important regulator of immune and inflammatory responses, including induction of proinflammatory cytokines and osteoclastic bone resorption. Evidence of the expression and proinflammatory activity of IL-17 has been demonstrated in RA synovium and in animal models of RA. However, the signaling pathways that regulate IL-17 production remain unknown. In the present study, we investigated the role of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)-Akt pathway in the regulation of IL-17 production in RA. PBMC were separated from RA (n=24) patients, and stimulated with various agents (anti CD3, anti CD28, PHA, ConA, IL-15). IL-17 levels were determined by sandwich ELISA and RT-PCR. The production of IL-17 was significantly increased in cells treated with anti-CD3 antibody, PHA, IL-15 or MCP-1 (P<0.05). ConA also strongly induced IL-17 production (P<0.001), whereas TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-18 or TGF-beta did not. IL-17 was detected in the PBMC of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) but their expression levels were much lower than those of RA PBMC. Anti-CD3 antibody activated the PI3K-Akt pathway and activation of the PI3K-Akt pathway resulted in a pronounced augmentation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB). IL-17 production by activated PBMC in RA is completely or partially blocked in the presence of NF-kappaB inhibitor PDTC and PI3K- Akt inhibitor, wortmannin and LY294002, respectively. Whereas the inhibition of AP-1 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 did not affect IL-17 production. These results provide new insight into that PI3K/Akt and NF-kappaB dependent signal transduction pathway could be involved in the overproduction of key inflammatory cytokine, IL-17 in rheumatoid arthritis.

Keyword

Interleukin-17; rheumatoid arthritis; PI3K/Akt pathway; NF-kappaB; PBMC

MeSH Terms

Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Bone Resorption
Cytokines
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Interleukin-15
Interleukin-17*
Interleukin-18
Models, Animal
NF-kappa B
Osteoarthritis
Osteoclasts
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase
Phosphotransferases
Signal Transduction*
Synovial Membrane
Transcription Factor AP-1
Transforming Growth Factor beta
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
Cytokines
Interleukin-15
Interleukin-17
Interleukin-18
NF-kappa B
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase
Phosphotransferases
Transcription Factor AP-1
Transforming Growth Factor beta
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha