| First Author | Cunningham MA | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Clin Immunol | Volume | 144 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 1-12 |
| PubMed ID | 22659029 | Mgi Jnum | J:184829 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5426448 | Doi | 10.1016/j.clim.2012.04.001 |
| Citation | Cunningham MA, et al. (2012) Estrogen receptor alpha modulates toll-like receptor signaling in murine lupus. Clin Immunol 144(1):1-12 |
| abstractText | Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a disease that disproportionately affects females. Despite significant research effort, the mechanisms underlying the female predominance in this disease are largely unknown. Previously, we showed that estrogen receptor alpha knockout (ERalphaKO) lupus prone female mice had significantly less pathologic renal disease and proteinuria, and significantly prolonged survival. Since autoantibody levels and number and percentage of B/T cells were not significantly impacted by ERalpha genotype, we hypothesized that the primary benefit of ERalpha deficiency in lupus nephritis was via modulation of the innate immune response. Using BMDCs and spleen cells/B cells from female wild-type or ERalphaKO mice, we found that ERalphaKO-derived cells have a significantly reduced inflammatory response after stimulation with TLR agonists. Our results indicate that the inflammatory response to TLR ligands is significantly impacted by the presence of ERalpha despite the absence of estradiol, and may partially explain the protective effect of ERalpha deficiency in lupus-prone animals. |
