IL-12 is a critical immunoregulatory cytokine that promotes cell-mediated immune responses and the differentiation of naive CD4+ cells to Th1 cells; however, relatively few IL-12 target genes have been identified. To better clarify the molecular basis of IL-12 action, we set out to characterize genes up-regulated by IL-12, first by contrasting IL-12- and IFN-alpha-inducible genes. We identified...

In this study we examined mechanisms that regulate T-helper lymphocyte 1 (Th1) commitment in Helicobacter pylori-infected human gastric mucosa. The levels of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), interleukin-4 (IL-4), and IL-12 in total extracts of gastric biopsies taken from H. pylori-infected and uninfected patients were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The levels of signal transdu...

BACKGROUND Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic multisystem autoimmune disorder influenced by genetic background and environmental factors. Our aim here was to replicate findings of associations between 7 of the implicated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IRF5, BLK, STAT4, TNFAIP3, SPP1, TNIP1 and ETS1 genes with susceptibility to childhood-onset SLE in the Japanese populat...

INTRODUCTION Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a common and complex autoimmune disease. As well as the major susceptibility gene HLA-DRB1, recent genome-wide and candidate-gene studies reported additional evidence for association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in the PTPN22, STAT4, OLIG3/TNFAIP3 and TRAF1/C5 loci with RA. This study...

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS. Although progressive axonal injury and diffuse inflammatory damage has been shown in the chronic phase of the disease, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these pathological processes. In order to identify these mechanisms, we have studied the gene expression profile in non-lesion containing tissue, the so-ca...