Deficiency of the cyclin kinase inhibitor p21(WAF-1/CIP-1) promotes apoptosis of activated/memory T cells and inhibits spontaneous systemic autoimmunity. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • A characteristic feature of systemic lupus erythematosus is the accumulation of activated/memory T and B cells. These G0/G1-arrested cells express high levels of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors such as p21, are resistant to proliferation and apoptosis, and produce large amounts of proinflammatory cytokines. Herein, we show that ablation of p21 in lupus-prone mice allows these cells to reenter the cell cycle and undergo apoptosis, leading to autoimmune disease reduction. Absence of p21 resulted in enhanced Fas/FasL-mediated activation-induced T cell death, increased activation of procaspases 8 and 3, and loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Increased apoptosis was also associated with p53 up-regulation and a modest shift in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 toward the proapoptotic Bax. Proliferation and apoptosis of B cells were also increased in p21-/- lupus mice. Thus, modulation of the cell cycle pathway may be a novel approach to reduce apoptosis-resistant pathogenic lymphocytes and to ameliorate systemic autoimmunity.

published proceedings

  • J Exp Med

altmetric score

  • 3

author list (cited authors)

  • Lawson, B. R., Baccala, R., Song, J., Croft, M., Kono, D. H., & Theofilopoulos, A. N.

citation count

  • 55

complete list of authors

  • Lawson, Brian R||Baccala, Roberto||Song, Jianxun||Croft, Michael||Kono, Dwight H||Theofilopoulos, Argyrios N

publication date

  • February 2004