The N-Formyl Peptide Receptors and Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Dangerous Liaison or Confusing Relationship?

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a progressive symmetric inflammation of the joints resulting in bone erosion and cartilage destruction with a progressive loss of function and joint deformity. An increased number of findings support the role of innate immunity in RA: many innate immune mechanisms are responsible for producing several cytokines and chemokines involved in RA pathogenesis, such as Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) play a crucial role in modulating the activity of the innate arm of the immune response. We focused our attention over the years on the expression and functions of a specific class of PRR, namely formyl peptide receptors (FPRs), which exert a key function in both sustaining and resolving the inflammatory response, depending on the context and/or the agonist. We performed a broad review of the data available in the literature on the role of FPRs and their ligands in RA. Furthermore, we queried a publicly available database collecting data from 90 RA patients with different clinic features to evaluate the possible association between FPRs and clinic-pathologic parameters of RA patients.

Calcinosis Cutis and Calciphylaxis in Autoimmune Connective Tissue Diseases

“…RA is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a progressive symmetric inflammation of the joints resulting in bone erosion, cartilage destruction, progressive loss of function, and joint deformity [ 111 ], mediated by both adaptative [ 112 ] and innate immunity [ 113 , 114 , 115 ]. Calcinosis cutis associated with RA is extremely rare, and few cases have been reported to date [ 14 , 16 , 116 ].…”

Water from Nitrodi’s Spring Induces Dermal Fibroblast and Keratinocyte Activation, Thus Promoting Wound Repair in the Skin: An In Vitro Study

“…As a preliminary step, we analyzed the effects of Nitrodi’s water by Western blot on the activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK 1/2), which are members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase super-family that regulates growth and cell-cycle progression. Serum-starved BJ cells were treated with PBS alone (as a negative control), Nitrodi, or fMLF (as a positive control) for ERK 1/2 activation [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Figure 1 A shows that the incubation with Nitrodi for 5 min significantly increased the phosphorylation of ERK 2, but not of ERK 1, thus suggesting that Nitrodi’s water could act on BJ cell proliferation and cell-cycle progression.…”

Detecting potential mechanism of vitamin D in treating rheumatoid arthritis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking

“…Wang ( Wang et al, 2020 ) et al showed that miR-483-3p promoted cell proliferation of FLS in RA by targeting IGF-1. It has been reported that many innate immune mechanisms produce cytokines and chemokines, such as tumor necrosis factor TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1, involved in the pathogenesis of RA ( Mormile et al, 2021 ). In addition, clinical studies have shown that CD14-positive monocytes from RA patients are more resistant to apoptosis, thereby promoting their persistence at the site of inflammation ( Ren et al, 2019 ).…”