Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2016 September, 240(1)

Differential Expression of O-Glycans in CD4⁺ T Lymphocytes from Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

EDGAR RAMOS-MARTÍNEZ,¹ RICARDO LASCURAIN,^2,3 EDA PATRICIA TENORIO,² ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ-GONZÁLEZ,⁴ KARINA CHÁVEZ-RUEDA,¹ LUIS CHÁVEZ-SÁNCHEZ,¹ LUIS J. JARA-QUEZADA,⁴ RAÚL CHÁVEZ-SÁNCHEZ,² EDGAR ZENTENO² and FRANCISCO BLANCO-FAVELA¹

¹Unidad de Investigación Médica en Inmunología, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional “Siglo XXI”, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), Ciudad de México, México
²Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
³Departamento de Investigación en Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosío Villegas”, Ciudad de México, México
⁴Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Médico Nacional “La Raza”, IMSS, Ciudad de México, México

T cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) show a decreased activation threshold and increased apoptosis. These processes seem to be regulated by glycosylated molecules on the T cell surface. Here, we determined through flow cytometry the expression of mucin-type O-glycans on T helper cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 23 SLE patients and its relation with disease activity. We used lectins specific for the disaccharide Gal-GalNAc, such as Amaranthus leucocarpus lectin (ALL), Artocarpus integrifolia lectin (jacalin) and Arachis hypogaea lectin (peanut agglutinin, PNA), as well as lectins for sialic acid such as Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) and Maakia amurensis agglutinin (MAA). The results showed that ALL, but not jacalin or PNA, identified significant differences in O-glycan expression on T helper cells from active SLE patients (n = 10). Moreover, an inverse correlation was found between the frequency of T helper cells recognized by ALL and SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score in SLE patients. In contrast, SNA and MAA lectins did not identify any differences between CD4⁺ T cells from SLE patients. There was no difference in the recognition by ALL on activated T helper cells and T regulatory (Treg) cells. Our findings point out that activation of SLE disease diminishes the expression of O-glycans in T helper cells; ALL could be considered as a marker to determine activity of the disease.

keywords —— Lectin; O-glycosylation; SLEDAI; systemic lupus erythematosus; T cells

© 2016 Tohoku University Medical Press

===============================

Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2016, 240, 79-89

Correspondence: Francisco Blanco-Favela, Ph.D., Unidad de Investigación Médica en Inmunología, Hospital de Pediatría, C.M.N. “Siglo XXI”, IMSS, Cd. Mx. Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col Doctores CP 06720, México.

e-mail: fblanco1@terra.com.mx