0000000000925499
AUTHOR
Güher Saruhan-direskeneli
cFLIPoverexpression in T cells in thymoma‐associated myasthenia gravis
OBJECTIVE: The capacity of thymomas to generate mature CD4+ effector T cells from immature precursors inside the tumor and export them to the blood is associated with thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis (TAMG). Why TAMG(+) thymomas generate and export more mature CD4+ T cells than MG(-) thymomas is unknown. METHODS: Unfixed thymoma tissue, thymocytes derived thereof, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), T-cell subsets and B cells were analysed using qRT-PCR and western blotting. Survival of PBMCs was measured by MTT assay. FAS-mediated apoptosis in PBMCs was quantified by flow cytometry. NF-κB in PBMCs was inhibited by the NF-κB-Inhibitor, EF24 prior to FAS-Ligand (FASLG) treatment …
Late-onset myasthenia gravis - CTLA4(low) genotype association and low-for-age thymic output of naïve T cells.
Abstract Late-onset myasthenia gravis (LOMG) has become the largest MG subgroup, but the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms remain mysterious. Among the few etiological clues are the almost unique serologic parallels between LOMG and thymoma-associated MG (TAMG), notably autoantibodies against acetylcholine receptors, titin, ryanodine receptor, type I interferons or IL-12. This is why we checked LOMG patients for two further peculiar features of TAMG – its associations with the CTLA4 high/gain-of-function +49A/A genotype and with increased thymic export of naive T cells into the blood, possibly after defective negative selection in AIRE-deficient thymomas. We analyzed genomic DNA from 116 …