[Gene expression of OAZ pathway in the patients of systemic lupus erythematosus].

Abstract

To explore the role of Olf/EBF associated zinc finger protein (OAZ) pathway in the RNA expression level in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
The expression levels of OAZ, BMP6, BMP4, Id3, Smad6, EHZF genes were valuated in bone marrow progenitor cells of 5 SLE patients and 5 normal subjects and replicated in peripheral blood cells of 30 SLE patients and 20 normal individuals by using real-time quantitative PCR technique. Relationships of the expression levels of OAZ, BMP6, BMP4, Id3 mRNA with disease activity and other clinical indices were analyzed.
The expression levels of OAZ and Id3 mRNA (deltaCt) in the bone marrow (10.6 +/- 0.5, 5.8 +/- 3.2) and peripheral blood (14.1 +/- 2.7, 7.5 +/- 1.8) of SLE patients significantly increased than those observed in normal controls (16.5 +/- 0.9, 10.4 +/- 2.6, 16.1 +/- 2.2, 9.5 +/- 1.7), which was found to negatively correlate with SLEDAI score, renal lesion index , titers of anti-dsDNA and anti-RNA antibodies, but positively correlate with serum complement C3. Expression levels of BMP4 and BMP6 were differentially expressed in peripheral blood cells but not bone marrow progenitor cells.
OAZ pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of SLE. Further investigation is required for the understanding of the function of these abnormally expressed genes.