Abstract
In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cell proliferation and altered metalloproteinase expression of synovial lining cells are associated with increased levels of TNF-α in the rheumatoid joint. We previously showed that synoviocytes of RA patients express high levels of the transcription factor Egr-1. Here we report that TNF-α is capable of inducing high Egr-1 mRNA levels in human skin fibroblasts and in synoviocytes from both, RA and reactive arthritis patients. Moreover, we observed in vitro a marked increase in fibroblast proliferation, a loss of growth inhibition by cell-to-cell contact with pannus-like cell growth and an altered cytokine expression pattern when synoviocytes were cultured in presence of TNF-α.
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Received: 28 October 1997 / Accepted: 10 November 1997
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Grimbacher, B., Aicher, W., Peter, H. et al. TNF-αα induces the transcription factor Egr-1, pro-inflammatory cytokines and cell proliferation in human skin fibroblasts and synovial lining cells. Rheumatology International 17, 185–192 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002960050032
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002960050032