No abstract

Slln'lmaryIn addition to T cell differentiation in the thymus, we have recently reported that extrathymic T cell differentiation occurs preferentially in the sinusoids of the liver. Although this extrathymic pathway is relatively minor in normal mice, it becomes predominant in mice with autoimmune diseases, athymic mice, and aged mice. In the present study, injection of normal male C3H/He mice, 6-8 wk of age, with 1 mg of estrogen resulted in an increase in mononuclear cells (MNC) yielded from the liver and a drastic decrease in thymocytes approximately 10 d after such injection. This unique modulation was not observed with hydrocortisone injection (5 rag/mouse, i.p.) nor with irradiation (5 Gy/mouse). Rather, these immunosuppressive treatments induced a simultaneous decrease in cell number in both the liver and thymus. A time-kinetics study on the cell number and spontaneous cell proliferation revealed that an increase in spontaneous cell proliferation in the liver preceded the increase in the number of liver MNC, and a decrease in spontaneous cell proliferation in the thymus preceded the decrease in the number of thymocytes. At this time, an enrichment ofc~/3 T cells with intermediate T cell receptors (TCRs), including forbidden T cell oligoclones and V38 + cells, which are characterized as extrathymic o#3 T cells with unique properties, took place in the liver. On the other hand, the thymic atrophy induced by estrogen resulted in a prominent decrease in immature double-positive (CD4+8 +) 0#3 T cells with dull TCRs. These results indicate that estrogen administration activates an extrathymic pathway of T cell differentiation in the liver and reciprocally inactivates the intrathymic pathway. As extrathymic T cells have unique characteristics such as autoreactivity, the present findings might be intimately related to a female predominance of autoimmune diseases and suggest a possible role of estrogen in this phenomenon.

Mechanical stress is thought to play an important role in bone remodeling. However, the correlation between mechanical stress and bone remodeling is poorly understood. In this context, using a model of cyclic tensile strain (CTS) toward human osteoblasts, synthesis of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (sRANKL), and the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) were examined. The application of 7%, 0.25-Hz CTS once a day for 4 h for 3 successive days simultaneously caused an increase of OPG synthesis and a decrease of sRANKL release and RANKL mRNA expression in osteoblasts. As for MAPKs activation in osteoblasts with the application of CTS, p38 MAPK was activated 10-20 min after the application of CTS, but extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) were not activated by such application. Furthermore, when CTS was applied once a day for 4 h for 1, 2, or 3 successive days to osteoblasts, p38 MAPK activation was maintained during the 3-day period but ERK1/2 activation was downregulated from day to day, simultaneously. Then, when CTS was applied once a day for 4 h for 3 successive days to osteoblasts pretreated with the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 for 1 h, OPG synthesis was dose-dependently suppressed and inhibition of sRANKL release and RANKL mRNA expression was abrogated. These results indicate that biological responses of OPG and sRANKL synthesis in osteoblasts to the application of CTS are regulated via the p38 MAPK pathway and suggest that CTS might modulate and regulate bone metabolism.

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the elbow is a localized injury of the articular cartilage and subchondral bone that is commonly seen in the young athlete. In the present study, the extent of damage and repair on the articular cartilage and subchondral bone was examined histologically using specimens of 25 osteochondral cylinders and seven loose bodies obtained from 25 young athletes who had undergone osteochondral autograft surgery. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assays for detecting apoptotic cells and immunohistochemistry of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) were performed on the osteochondral cylinder specimens. The histological findings of the OCD of the elbow showed that the articular cartilage exhibited degenerative change, mimicking osteoarthritis, and was markedly damaged as the lesion progressed. TUNEL-positive cells and MMP-3- and -13-expressing cells were distributed in the degenerative articular cartilage and reparative fibrocartilage tissue. Separation occurred at either the deep articular cartilage or the subchondral bone, with the former being dominant in the early OCD lesions. The present results suggest that the primary pathological changes in OCD of the elbow were due to damage of articular cartilage induced by repeated stress following degenerative and reparative process of articular cartilage and subchondral fracturing, and separation subsequently occurred on the cartilage and developed onto the subchondral bone in its advanced stages.

Retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) is a member of the DExH box family protein, and details of its biological function are not known. We have studied the mechanism of the interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-induced RIG-I expression in human gingival fibroblasts in culture. We also addressed the possibility of enhanced expression of COX-2, RANTES and galectin-9 in fibroblasts overexpressed RIG-I. We stimulated cultured human gingival fibroblasts with IL-1beta and examined the expression of RIG-I mRNA and protein by reverse transcriptase-mediated polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. The effect of cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, on the IL-1beta-induced expression of RIG-I was examined. The expression of COX-2, RANTES, galectin-9 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in gingival fibroblasts transfected with RIG-I cDNA was also examined. IL-1beta stimulated the expressions of mRNA and protein for RIG-I, in cultured fibroblasts, in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Cycloheximide did not suppress the IL-1beta-induced RIG-I expression. Introduction of RIG-I cDNA into fibroblasts resulted in enhanced expression of COX-2 mRNA, and slightly enhanced the expression of mRNA for RANTES and galectin-9. In contrast, RIG-I overexpression did not alter the level of mRNA for monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. We conclude that IL-1beta stimulates RIG-I expression in human gingival fibroblasts.