PD-1, a 55 kDa transmembrane protein containing an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif, is induced in lymphocytes and monocytic cells following activation. Aged C57BL/6(B6)-PD-1(-/-) congenic mice spontaneously developed characteristic lupus-like proliferative arthritis and glomerulonephritis with predominant IgG3 deposition, which were markedly accelerated by introduction of a Fas mutation (lpr). Introduction of a PD-1 null mutation into the 2C-TCR (anti-H-2Ld) transgenic mice of the H-2(b/d) background resulted in the chronic and systemic graft-versus-host-like disease. Furthermore, CD8+ 2C-TCR+ PD-1(-/-) T cells exhibited markedly augmented proliferation in vitro in response to H-2d allogenic cells. Collectively, it is suggested that PD-1 is involved in the maintenance of peripheral self-tolerance by serving as a negative regulator of immune responses.

A Wnt coreceptor low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) plays an essential role in bone accrual and eye development. Here, we show that LRP5 is also required for normal cholesterol and glucose metabolism. The production of mice lacking LRP5 revealed that LRP5 deficiency led to increased plasma cholesterol levels in mice fed a high-fat diet, because of the decreased hepatic clearance of chylomicron remnants. In addition, when fed a normal diet, LRP5-deficient mice showed a markedly impaired glucose tolerance. The LRP5-deficient islets had a marked reduction in the levels of intracellular ATP and Ca 2؉ in response to glucose, and thereby glucoseinduced insulin secretion was decreased. The intracellular inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) production in response to glucose was also reduced in LRP5؊͞؊ islets. Real-time PCR analysis revealed a marked reduction of various transcripts for genes involved in glucose sensing in LRP5؊͞؊ islets. Furthermore, exposure of LRP5؉͞؉ islets to Wnt-3a and Wnt-5a stimulates glucose-induced insulin secretion and this stimulation was blocked by the addition of a soluble form of Wnt receptor, secreted Frizzled-related protein-1. In contrast, LRP5-deficient islets lacked the Wnt-3a-stimulated insulin secretion. These data suggest that Wnt͞LRP5 signaling contributes to the glucose-induced insulin secretion in the islets.and LRP6 are coreceptors involved in the Wnt signaling pathway (1-6). The Wnt signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in embryonic development (7,8) and oncogenesis (9) through various signaling molecules including Frizzled receptors (10), recently characterized LRP5 and LRP6 (1-6), and Dickkopf proteins (4, 6). In addition, the Wnt signaling is also involved in adipogenesis by negatively regulating adipogenic transcription factors (Tcfs) (11). Although Wnt signaling has been characterized in both developmental and oncogenic processes, little is known about its function in the normal adult.Recent studies have revealed that loss of function mutations in the LRP5 gene cause the autosomal recessive disorder osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome (12). LRP5 is expressed in osteoblasts and transduces Wnt signaling via the canonical pathway, thereby modulating bone accrual development (12, 13). A point mutation in a ''propeller'' motif in LRP5 causes a dominant-positive high bone density by impairing the action of a normal antagonist of the Wnt pathway, Dickkopf, thereby increasing Wnt signaling (14,15). In addition, the human LRP5 gene is mapped within the region (IDDM4) linked to type 1 diabetes on chromosome 11q13 (16).In previous studies, we and others showed that LRP5 is highly expressed in many tissues, including hepatocytes and pancreatic beta cells (17,18). We also showed that LRP5 can bind apolipoprotein E (apoE) (18). This finding raises the possibility that LRP5 plays a role in the hepatic clearance of apoE-containing chylomicron remnants, a major plasma lipoprotein carrying diet-derived cholesterol.To evaluate the in vivo roles of LRP5, we generated LRP...

OX40 expressed on activated T cells is known to be an important costimulatory molecule on T cell activation in vitro. However, the in vivo functional significance of the interaction between OX40 and its ligand, OX40L, is still unclear. To investigate the role of OX40L during in vivo immune responses, we generated OX40L-deficient mice and a blocking anti-OX40L monoclonal antibody, MGP34. OX40L expression was demonstrated on splenic B cells after CD40 and anti-immunoglobulin (Ig)M stimulation, while only CD40 ligation was capable of inducing OX40L on dendritic cells. OX40L-deficient and MGP34-treated mice engendered apparent suppression of the recall reaction of T cells primed with both protein antigens and alloantigens and a significant reduction in keyhole limpet hemocyanin–specific IgG production. The impaired T cell priming was also accompanied by a concomitant reduction of both T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 cytokines. Furthermore, antigen-presenting cells (APCs) derived from the mutant mice revealed an impaired intrinsic APC function, demonstrating the importance of OX40L in both the priming and effector phases of T cell activation. Collectively, these results provide convincing evidence that OX40L, expressed on APCs, plays a critical role in antigen-specific T cell responses in vivo.

The dendritic cell immunoreceptor (official gene symbol Clec4a2, called Dcir here) is a C-type lectin receptor expressed mainly in dendritic cells (DCs) that has a carbohydrate recognition domain in its extracellular portion and an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif, which transduces negative signals into cells, in its cytoplasmic portion. We found high Dcir expression in the joints of two mouse rheumatoid arthritis models. Because the structural characteristics of Dcir suggest that it may have an immune regulatory role, and because autoimmune-related genes are mapped to the DCIR locus in humans, we generated Dcir-/- mice to learn more about the pathological roles of this molecule. We found that aged Dcir-/- mice spontaneously develop sialadenitis and enthesitis associated with elevated serum autoantibodies. Dcir-/- mice showed a markedly exacerbated response to collagen-induced arthritis. The DC population was expanded excessively in aged and type II collagen-immunized Dcir-/- mice. Upon treatment with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, Dcir-/- mouse-derived bone marrow cells (BMCs) differentiated into DCs more efficiently than did wild-type BMCs, owing to enhanced signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 phosphorylation. These observations indicate that Dcir is a negative regulator of DC expansion and has a crucial role in maintaining the homeostasis of the immune system.

We have prepared monoclonal hapten-specific mouse IgG2b antibodies depleted of asparagine-linked carbohydrate chains by treating' the hybridoma cells with tunicamycin. 'The carbohydrate-deficient antibodies behaved in an identical manner to the normal antibodies with regard to fine antigen-binding reactivity (a Fab fragment feature) and protein A binding capacity [a, feature requiring integrity at the C2H2 and CH3 domaininteraction regions in the constant region of the heavy chain (CH)I. However, they lost 'the ability to activatevcomplement, to bind to Fc.receptors on macrophages, and to induce antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Furthermore, antigen-antibody. complexes produced from such carbohydrate-deficient antibodies failed to be eliminated rapidly from the circulation. We conclude that removal of carbohydrate chains from IgG molecules may have a profound and highly select impact on the biological activity to these antibodies.Carbohydrates have been indicated to be of significant importance in secretion of Ig molecules (1) Biosynthetic Radiolabeling of Ig and TNP Binding Assay. Hybridoma cells were put in the labeling medium (F10 medium without L-leucine containing 15% fetal calf serum pretreated with TNP-coated SRBC, 4 mM of L-glutamine, 100 pug of streptomycin per ml, 100 units of penicillin-per ml, and 10 mM Hepes) at a cell density of 1 x 106 cells per ml. In some experiments (see Fig. 1 (Cooke, UK). After incubation for 1 hr at 40C, TNP-SRBC or SRBC were washed in GVB2' dissolved in 0.2 ml of 1% NaDodSO4 solution, and transferred to 2 ml of a 2:1 (vol/vol) toluene/Triton-X-100-based scintillation solution. Ig specifically bound to TNP was determined by subtracting the radioactivity bound to SRBC, which was always <10% of that of TNP-SRBC. Furthermore, adding TNP-bovine serum albumin (TNP-albumin) in excess did inhibit >98% of the binding of Ig to TNP-SRBC (data not included). The antibody level of each sample also was measured by hemagglutination (11) of TNP-SRBC.

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Objective. To examine whether chemokine antagonists inhibit the initiation and progression of lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice.Methods. NH 2 -terminal-truncated monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1)/CCL2 or thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)/CCL17 analogs were inserted into the pCXN2 expression vector and transfected into a nonmetastatic fibroblastoid cell line, MRL/N-1, established from an MRL/gld mouse.Results. MCP-1 antagonist-or TARC antagonisttransfected MRL/N-1 cells were injected subcutaneously into MRL/lpr mice ages 7 weeks (before the onset of lupus nephritis) and 12 weeks (at the early stage of the disease). After 8 weeks, mice bearing the MCP-1 antagonist showed markedly diminished infiltration of macrophages and T cells, glomerular hypercellularity, glomerulosclerosis, crescent formation, and vasculitis compared with control mice. This seemed to be due to decreased production of interferon-␥ and interleukin-2 in the kidney. In contrast, there was no significant difference in renal damage between mice bearing TARC antagonist and control mice. Conclusion.We established a new system using MRL/N-1 cells that allows long-term observation of the effects of chemokine antagonists on lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice. We also showed that the MCP-1 antagonist ameliorated the initiation and progression of lupus nephritis and of renal vasculitis, which might provide a new approach to the treatment of the disease.

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