Genetic "Signature" Linked to Severe Lupus Symptoms

Using DNA microarrays — small silicon chips that contain tiny amounts of thousands of known genes — to carry out a technique called gene expression profiling, Timothy W. Behrens, M.D., of the University of Minnesota, and his colleagues from North Shore Long Island Jewish Research Institute, analyzed thousands of genes in the peripheral blood cells of 48 lupus patients and 42 healthy controls. Surprisingly, 14 of the thousands of genes studied were linked to a subset of SLE patients with severe disease. In addition, 161 of the genes studied showed different expression patterns in SLE patients compared with healthy controls.

The 14 genes, referred to collectively as the IFN (interferon) expression signature, are turned on by the activity of interferon, a complex family of proteins involved in the regulation of immune responses. The data provide strong support for developing new therapies to block IFN pathways in patients with severe lupus, and the pattern of gene expression in blood cells may be useful in identifying patients most likely to benefit from these new therapies. Gene expression profiling in blood cells may also be useful in identifying disease pathways in other autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

To contact Dr. Behrens, call Brenda Hudson, Media Relations Associate at the University of Minnesota, at (612) 624-5680. To contact researchers at North Shore Long Island Jewish Research Institute, call Marlena Kern, Project Coordinator, at (516) 562-1542.

Reference: Baechler, E, Batliwalla F, Karypis, G, Gaffney P, Ortmann W, Espe K, Shark K, Grande W, Hughes K, Kapur V, Gregersen P, Behrens T. Interferon-inducible gene expression signature in peripheral blood cells of patients with severe lupus. The study will appear in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the week of February 10th.

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