These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: Induction of keratinocyte proliferation and lymphocytic infiltration by in vivo introduction of the IL-6 gene into keratinocytes and possibility of keratinocyte gene therapy for inflammatory skin diseases using IL-6 mutant genes. Author: Sawamura D, Meng X, Ina S, Sato M, Tamai K, Hanada K, Hashimoto I. Journal: J Immunol; 1998 Nov 15; 161(10):5633-9. PubMed ID: 9820543. Abstract: To understand biological function of IL-6 in the skin in vivo, we constructed a vector that strongly expressed human IL-6 in keratinocytes and introduced it into rat keratinocytes in vivo by the naked DNA method. The overexpression of IL-6 induced macroscopic erythema and histologically evident keratinocyte proliferation and lymphocytic infiltration in the treated area of rat skin. Since previous studies using IL-6 transgenic mice have not shown skin inflammation of these mice, our result provides the first evidence that IL-6 is related to the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases. ELISA suggested that a certain degree of transgenic IL-6 expression in keratinocytes was required for inducing skin inflammation. Cytokine profile in rat keratinocytes after the gene introduction was examined by reverse transcriptase-PCR assay and revealed that gene expression of rat IL-1alpha and TNF-alpha showed no marked change until 24 h, whereas that of rat IL-6 and TGF-alpha increased with time. We then introduced and expressed the IL-6 mutant genes, which were designed to behave as IL-6Ralpha antagonists, and found that their ability to induce erythema was lower than that of the wild-type gene. Furthermore, preintroduction of some mutant genes delayed the erythema induced by postintroduction of the wild-type IL-6 gene, suggesting that the mutant forms of IL-6 prevent wild-type IL-6 from binding to IL-6Ralpha. This result indicates that keratinocyte gene therapy may be possible for inflammatory skin diseases using IL-6 mutant genes.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]