Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease and the second most common chronic systemic rheumatic disorder. Prevalence of primary SS in the general population has been estimated to be approximately 1-3%, whereas secondary SS has been observed in 10-20% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and scleroderma. Despite this, its exact aetiology and pathogenesis are largely unexplored. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signalling mechanisms provide central controls in SS, but how these pathways intersect the pathological features of this disease is unclear. The ubiquitin-editing enzyme A20 (tumour necrosis factor-α-induced protein 3, TNFAIP3) serves as a critical inhibitor on NF-κB signalling. In humans, polymorphisms in the A20 gene or a deregulated expression of A20 are often associated with several inflammatory disorders, including SS. Because A20 controls the ectodysplasin-A1 (EDA-A1)/ectodysplasin receptor (EDAR) signalling negatively, and the deletion of A20 results in excessive EDA1-induced NF-κB signalling, this work investigates the expression levels of EDA-A1 and EDAR in SS human salivary glands epithelial cells (SGEC) and evaluates the hypothesis that SS SGEC-specific deregulation of A20 results in excessive EDA1-induced NF-κB signalling in SS. Our approach, which combines the use of siRNA-mediated gene silencing and quantitative pathway analysis, was used to elucidate the role of the A20 target gene in intracellular EDA-A1/EDAR/NF-κB pathway in SS SGEC, holding significant promise for compound selection in drug discovery.
Keywords: A20; EDA-A1; EDAR; NF-κB; Sjögren's syndrome.
© 2016 British Society for Immunology.