Research Article
Regulated Melanocortin Receptor 1-5 Gene Expressions in CD56+ NK Cells from Two Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Treated with Adalimumab
Marlene Andersen, Michael Kruse Meyer, Ivan Nagaev, Olga Nagaeva, Jarl Erik Sylvester Wikberg, Lucia Mincheva-Nilsson and Grethe Neumann Andersen
Correspondence Address :
Grethe Neumann Andersen MD PhD
Department of Rheumatology
North Denmark Regional Hospital
Bispensgade 37
DK-9800 Hjorring
Denmark
Tel: 45 +/-40234094
Fax: +/-45 97640999
Email: Grethe.andersen.2@rn.dk
Received on: January 18, 2017 , Accepted on: January 31, 2017 , Published on: February 08, 2017
Citation: Marlene Andersen, Michael Kruse Meyer, Ivan Nagaev, Olga Nagaeva, Jarl Erik Sylvester Wikberg, Lucia Mincheva-Nilsson, Grethe Neumann Andersen (2017). Regulated Melanocortin Receptor 1-5 Gene Expressions in CD56+ NK Cells from Two Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Treated with Adalimumab
Copyright: 2017 Grethe Neumann Andersen, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Abstract
The role of the endogenous, proresolving melanocortin system is still essentially unexplored in human auto-immune diseases. Melanocortin receptor (MCR) 1-5 genes and proteins are expressed in several leukocyte subsets and MCR1-3 and MCR5 mRNAs have been found in CD56+ natural killer (NK) cells from healthy humans. CD56+ NK cells may be decisive in the induction of auto-immunity and their cytokine profile assists in the direction of naive CD4+ T cells into specific effector or regulatory T cell subsets. We explored the possibilities of affecting CD56+ NK cell function through MCR1-5. Thus, we determined the response of MCR1-5 gene expression in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to TNFα inhibition (I) with adalimumab. CD56+ NK cells from RA patients treated with adalimumab were separated by immune-magnetic beads before and after three months of adalimumab treatment. Total RNA was extracted and mRNAs for MCR1-5 and a panel of cytokines were measured by qRT-PCR. All MCR genes, including MCR4, - not previously described in NK cells -, were expressed in CD56+ NK cells in active RA and reacted to adalimumab by down-regulation. In addition, the gene expression of cytokines important for CD56+ NK cell activity, i.e. especially TNFα and IFNγ were down-regulated. NK cell activity in RA may thus be modulated by MCR signalling. The response of MCR1-5 gene expressions in NK cells to adalimumab reinforces this perception. We propose that MCR signalling in NK cells may represent a new endogenous pathway to counteract autoimmune inflammation in RA.