Role of the interferon regulatory factor 5 in the development of lupus nephritis

干扰素调节因子5（IRF 5）是一种转录因子，被认为参与系统性红斑狼疮的发生。我们产生IRF 5缺陷型狼疮（MRL/lpr）小鼠并研究其表型。小鼠血清中抗核抗原的自身抗体（包括抗核抗体和抗dsDNA抗体）较低或为阴性。狼疮肾炎轻得多，小鼠存活时间比对照MRL/lpr小鼠长得多。脾树突状细胞产生较低水平的炎性细胞因子以响应T0 II样受体配体。这些结果表明，IRF 5是狼疮肾炎的关键驱动因素，并表明IRF 5可能是治疗狼疮肾炎的有吸引力的新靶点。

Interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) is a transcription factor and considered to be involved in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus. We generated IRF5-deficient lupus (MRL/lpr) mice and investigated their phenotype. Autoantibodies to nuclear antigens, including anti-nuclear antibodies and anti-dsDNA antibodies were lower or negative in the mouse sera. Lupus nephritis was much milder, and the mice survive much longer than control MRL/lpr mice. Splenic dendritic cells produced lower levels of inflammatory cytokines in response to To l l-like receptor ligands. These results show that IRF5 is a crucial driver of lupus nephritis and indicate that IRF5 may be an attractive new target for the treatment of lupus nephritis.