Abstract
T cells are well known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematodes (SLE) . It has been reported that T cells from SLE patients show impaired responses to stimuli through T cell receptor (TCR) . TCR zeta chain is well recognized as an important molecule of the signal transduction through TCR. We have reported that significant part of SLE patients show diminished expression of TCR zeta chain that, in turn, may cause the defective responses of T cells often observed in SLE. Moreover, many investigators have demonstrated that SLE T cells show alternative profiles of cytokine production, such as Th 1 or Th 2 cytokines. It is possibly that diminished expression of TCR zeta chain in SLE T cells affects the production of cytokines. It has also demonstrated that TCR zeta chain knock out cell lines were established with Molt-4 cells. By using these cells, the function of SLE T cells with lower expression of TCR zeta chain changed from normal T cells, such as IL-2 production and proliferation. It is suggested that diminished expression of TCR zeta is responsible for alteration of cytokine productiom.
