| 16116236 |
Krishnan S, Kiang JG, Fisher CU, Nambiar MP, Nguyen HT, Kyttaris VC, Chowdhury B, Rus V, Tsokos GC: Increased caspase-3 expression and activity contribute to reduced CD3zeta expression in systemic lupus erythematosus T cells. J Immunol. 2005 Sep 1;175(5):3417-23.
T cells isolated from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) express low levels of CD3zeta-chain, a critical molecule involved in TCR-mediated signaling, but the involved mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study we examined caspase-3 as a candidate for cleaving CD3zeta in SLE T cells. We demonstrate that SLE T cells display increased expression and activity of caspase-3. Treatment of SLE T cells with the caspase-3 inhibitor Z-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-FMK reduced proteolysis of CD3zeta and enhanced its expression. In addition, Z-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-FMK treatment increased the association of CD3zeta with lipid rafts and simultaneously reversed the abnormal lipid raft preclustering, heightened TCR-induced calcium responses, and reduced the expression of FcRgamma-chain exclusively in SLE T cells. We conclude that caspase-3 inhibitors can normalize SLE T cell function by limiting the excessive digestion of CD3zeta-chain and suggest that such molecules can be considered in the treatment of this disease. |
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