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How self-tolerance and the immunosuppressive drug FK506 prevent B-cell mitogenesis

An Erratum to this article was published on 21 September 2000

Abstract

Therapy for transplant rejection, autoimmune disease and allergy must target mature lymphocytes that have escaped censoring during their development. FK506 and cyclosporin are immunosuppressants which block three antigen-receptor signalling pathways (NFAT, NFκB and JNK), through inhibition of calcineurin1, and inhibit mature lymphocyte proliferation to antigen2,3,4. Neither drug induces long-lived tolerance in vivo, however, necessitating chronic use with adverse side effects. Physiological mechanisms of peripheral tolerance to self-antigens provide an opportunity to emulate these processes pharmacologically. Here we use gene-expression arrays to provide a molecular explanation for the loss of mitogenic response in peripheral B-cell anergy, one aspect of immunological tolerance5. Self-antigen induces a set of genes that includes negative regulators of signalling and transcription but not genes that promote proliferation. FK506 interferes with calcium-dependent components of the tolerance response and blocks an unexpectedly small fraction of the activation response. Many genes that were not previously connected to self-tolerance are revealed, and our findings provide a molecular fingerprint for the development of improved immunosuppressants that prevent lymphocyte activation without blocking peripheral tolerance.

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Figure 1: Tolerance response to self-antigen, P < 0.00034 .
Figure 2: Activation response to foreign antigen, P < 0.00018.
Figure 3: Effect of FK506, EGTA and PD98059 on activation response.
Figure 4: Expression profiles connect genes to pathways and immune responses.

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Acknowledgements

R.G., J.I.H., D.H.M. and C.C.G. gratefully acknowledge the advice and support of M. M. Davis, and advice from J. Cyster, G. Ghandour, D. Lockhart and D. Venter. This work was supported in part by grants from the NIH and the Human Frontiers Science Program.

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Correspondence to Christopher C. Goodnow.

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Glynne, R., Akkaraju, S., Healy, J. et al. How self-tolerance and the immunosuppressive drug FK506 prevent B-cell mitogenesis. Nature 403, 672–676 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35001102

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