Stimulatory and inhibitory killer Ig-like receptor molecules are expressed and functional on lupus T cells.
Other Scholarly Work
Basu, Dhiman, Liu, Ying, Wu, Ailing et al. (2009). Stimulatory and inhibitory killer Ig-like receptor molecules are expressed and functional on lupus T cells.
. Journal of Immunology, 183(5), 3481-3487. 10.4049/jimmunol.0900034
Basu, Dhiman, Liu, Ying, Wu, Ailing et al. (2009). Stimulatory and inhibitory killer Ig-like receptor molecules are expressed and functional on lupus T cells.
. Journal of Immunology, 183(5), 3481-3487. 10.4049/jimmunol.0900034
T cells from lupus patients have hypomethylated DNA and overexpress genes normally suppressed by DNA methylation that contribute to disease pathogenesis. We found that stimulatory and inhibitory killer cell Ig-like receptor (KIR) genes are aberrantly overexpressed on experimentally demethylated T cells. We therefore asked if lupus T cells also overexpress KIR, and if the proteins are functional. T cells from lupus patients were found to overexpress KIR genes, and expression was proportional to disease activity. Abs to the stimulatory molecule KIR2DL4 triggered IFN-gamma release by lupus T cells, and production was proportional to disease activity. Similarly, cross-linking the inhibitory molecule KIR3DL1 prevented the autoreactive macrophage killing that characterizes lupus T cells. These results indicate that aberrant T cell KIR expression may contribute to IFN overproduction and macrophage killing in human lupus, and they suggest that Abs to inhibitory KIR may be a treatment for this disease.
