Suppression of Immune Induction of Collagen-Induced Arthritis in IL-17-Deficient Mice

作者：Susumu Nakae, Aya Nambu, Katsuko Sudo, Yoichiro Iwakura · 发表于：The Journal of Immunology · 年份：2003 · DOI：10.4049/jimmunol.171.11.6173 · 被引用次数：1275 · 研究领域：Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies、Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research、Cytokine Signaling Pathways and Interactions

Interleukin-17 is a T cell-derived proinflammatory cytokine. This cytokine is suspected to be involved in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) because this cytokine expression is augmented in synovial tissues of RA patients. The pathogenic roles of IL-17 in the development of RA, however, still remain to be elucidated. In this study, effects of IL-17 deficiency on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model were examined using IL-17-deficient mice (IL-17(-/-) mice). We found that CIA was markedly suppressed in IL-17(-/-) mice. IL-17 was responsible for the priming of collagen-specific T cells and collagen-specific IgG2a production. Thus, these observations suggest that IL-17 plays a crucial role in the development of CIA by activating autoantigen-specific cellular and humoral immune responses.