Abstract
Little is known about mechanisms that drive the development of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), although inflammatory factors, such as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), its homolog D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT), and their common receptor CD74 may contribute to disease worsening. Our findings demonstrate elevated MIF and D-DT levels in males with progressive disease compared with relapsing-remitting males (RRMS) and female MS subjects, with increased levels of CD74 in females vs. males with high MS disease severity. Furthermore, increased MIF and D-DT levels in males with progressive disease were significantly correlated with the presence of two high-expression promoter polymorphisms located in the MIF gene, a −794CATT5–8 microsatellite repeat and a −173 G/C SNP. Conversely, mice lacking MIF or D-DT developed less-severe signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine model of MS, thus implicating both homologs as copathogenic contributors. These findings indicate that genetically controlled high MIF expression (and D-DT) promotes MS progression in males, suggesting that these two factors are sex-specific disease modifiers and raising the possibility that aggressive anti-MIF treatment of clinically isolated syndrome or RRMS males with a high-expresser genotype might slow or prevent the onset of progressive MS. Additionally, selective targeting of MIF:CD74 signaling might provide an effective, trackable therapeutic approach for MS subjects of both sexes.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | E8421-E8429 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Volume | 114 |
| Issue number | 40 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 3 2017 |
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Keywords
- Disease modifier
- Multiple sclerosis
- Sex differences
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
Cite this
MIF and D-DT are potential disease severity modifiers in male MS subjects. / Benedek, Gil; Meza-Romero, Roberto; Jordan, Kelley; Zhang, Ying; Nguyen, Ha; Kent, Gail; Li, Jia; Siu, Edwin; Frazer, Jenny; Piecychna, Marta; Du, Xin; Sreih, Antoine; Leng, Lin; Wiedrick, Jack; Caillier, Stacy J.; Offner, Halina; Oksenberg, Jorge R.; Yadav, Vijayshree; Bourdette, Dennis; Bucala, Richard; Vandenbark, Arthur.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 114, No. 40, 03.10.2017, p. E8421-E8429.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - MIF and D-DT are potential disease severity modifiers in male MS subjects
AU - Benedek, Gil
AU - Meza-Romero, Roberto
AU - Jordan, Kelley
AU - Zhang, Ying
AU - Nguyen, Ha
AU - Kent, Gail
AU - Li, Jia
AU - Siu, Edwin
AU - Frazer, Jenny
AU - Piecychna, Marta
AU - Du, Xin
AU - Sreih, Antoine
AU - Leng, Lin
AU - Wiedrick, Jack
AU - Caillier, Stacy J.
AU - Offner, Halina
AU - Oksenberg, Jorge R.
AU - Yadav, Vijayshree
AU - Bourdette, Dennis
AU - Bucala, Richard
AU - Vandenbark, Arthur
PY - 2017/10/3
Y1 - 2017/10/3
N2 - Little is known about mechanisms that drive the development of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), although inflammatory factors, such as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), its homolog D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT), and their common receptor CD74 may contribute to disease worsening. Our findings demonstrate elevated MIF and D-DT levels in males with progressive disease compared with relapsing-remitting males (RRMS) and female MS subjects, with increased levels of CD74 in females vs. males with high MS disease severity. Furthermore, increased MIF and D-DT levels in males with progressive disease were significantly correlated with the presence of two high-expression promoter polymorphisms located in the MIF gene, a −794CATT5–8 microsatellite repeat and a −173 G/C SNP. Conversely, mice lacking MIF or D-DT developed less-severe signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine model of MS, thus implicating both homologs as copathogenic contributors. These findings indicate that genetically controlled high MIF expression (and D-DT) promotes MS progression in males, suggesting that these two factors are sex-specific disease modifiers and raising the possibility that aggressive anti-MIF treatment of clinically isolated syndrome or RRMS males with a high-expresser genotype might slow or prevent the onset of progressive MS. Additionally, selective targeting of MIF:CD74 signaling might provide an effective, trackable therapeutic approach for MS subjects of both sexes.
AB - Little is known about mechanisms that drive the development of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), although inflammatory factors, such as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), its homolog D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT), and their common receptor CD74 may contribute to disease worsening. Our findings demonstrate elevated MIF and D-DT levels in males with progressive disease compared with relapsing-remitting males (RRMS) and female MS subjects, with increased levels of CD74 in females vs. males with high MS disease severity. Furthermore, increased MIF and D-DT levels in males with progressive disease were significantly correlated with the presence of two high-expression promoter polymorphisms located in the MIF gene, a −794CATT5–8 microsatellite repeat and a −173 G/C SNP. Conversely, mice lacking MIF or D-DT developed less-severe signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine model of MS, thus implicating both homologs as copathogenic contributors. These findings indicate that genetically controlled high MIF expression (and D-DT) promotes MS progression in males, suggesting that these two factors are sex-specific disease modifiers and raising the possibility that aggressive anti-MIF treatment of clinically isolated syndrome or RRMS males with a high-expresser genotype might slow or prevent the onset of progressive MS. Additionally, selective targeting of MIF:CD74 signaling might provide an effective, trackable therapeutic approach for MS subjects of both sexes.
KW - Disease modifier
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - Sex differences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030219641&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85030219641&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1712288114
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1712288114
M3 - Article
C2 - 28923927
AN - SCOPUS:85030219641
VL - 114
SP - E8421-E8429
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 40
ER -