Department of Molecular Bioscience, College of Biomedical Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
Immune Netw. 2011 Aug;11(4):196-202. doi: 10.4110/in.2011.11.4.196. Epub 2011 Aug 31.
B cell-activating factor belonging to the TNF family (BAFF) is primarily expressed by macrophages and dendritic cells, and stimulates B cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, and Ig production. In the present study, we explored the effect of activin A on BAFF expression by APCs.
To investigate the effect of activin A on BAFF expression by mouse APCs, we measured the level of BAFF expression at the transcriptional and protein levels using RT-PCR and ELISA.
Activin A markedly enhanced BAFF expression in mouse macrophages and dendritic cells at both the transcriptional and protein levels. SB431542, an activin receptor-like kinase 4 (ALK4) inhibitor, completely abrogated activin A-induced BAFF transcription. Furthermore, overexpression of DN-Smad3 abolished activin-induced BAFF expression at the transcriptional and protein levels.
These results demonstrate that activin A can enhance BAFF expression through ALK4-Smad3 pathway.
肿瘤坏死因子家族成员 B 细胞激活因子（BAFF）主要由巨噬细胞和树突状细胞表达，能刺激 B 细胞增殖、分化、存活和 Ig 产生。本研究探讨了激活素 A 对 APCs 中 BAFF 表达的影响。
为了研究激活素 A 对小鼠 APCs 中 BAFF 表达的影响，我们使用 RT-PCR 和 ELISA 检测 BAFF 在转录和蛋白水平的表达情况。
激活素 A 明显增强了小鼠巨噬细胞和树突状细胞中 BAFF 的转录和蛋白表达。ALK4 抑制剂 SB431542 完全阻断了激活素 A 诱导的 BAFF 转录。此外，DN-Smad3 的过表达也可在转录和蛋白水平上抑制激活素诱导的 BAFF 表达。
这些结果表明激活素 A 可以通过 ALK4-Smad3 通路增强 BAFF 的表达。
