Expression of ets family of genes in systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjogren's syndrome

P Georgiou; I Maroulakou; J Green; P Dantis; V Romanospica; S Kottaridis; J Lautenberger; D Watson; T Papas; P Fischinger; N Bhat

Expression of ets family of genes in systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjogren's syndrome

Int J Oncol. 1996 Jul;9(1):9-18.

Authors

P Georgiou¹, I Maroulakou, J Green, P Dantis, V Romanospica, S Kottaridis, J Lautenberger, D Watson, T Papas, P Fischinger, N Bhat

Affiliation

¹ NCI, FREDERICK CANC RES & DEV CTR, SCI APPLICAT INT CORP, ONCOL MOLEC LAB, FREDERICK, MD 21702 USA. EVANGELISMOS MED CTR, DEPT RHEUMATOL, ATHENS, GREECE. UCSC, FAC MED, INST HYG, ROME, ITALY. HELLENIC ANTICANC INST, PAPANICOLAOU RES CTR ONCOL & EXPT SURG, ATHENS, GREECE. MED UNIV S CAROLINA, HOLLINGS CANC CTR, CTR MOL & STRUCT BIOL, CHARLESTON, SC USA. UNIV IOANNINA, SCH MED, DEPT INTERNAL MED, GR-45110 IOANNINA, GREECE.

PMID: 21541474

Abstract

We have examined the expression of three members of the ets family of genes, ETS1, ETS2 and ERGB/Fli-1, in lymphocytes from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and in two murine autoimmune model systems. The ERGB/Fli-1 gene is expressed at a higher level in lymphocytes from autoimmune disease patients than healthy individuals. In addition, we found that the ERGB/Fli-1 gene expression is higher in splenic T-cells from lupus prone mice and in infiltrating lymphocytes in the salivary glands of HTLV-I tax transgenic mice. Taken together, these results suggest that the elevated expression of the ERGB/Fli-1 gene in lymphocytes may be a prelude to the development of autoimmune diseases.