Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. Recent studies suggest relevance between cysteine protease cathepsin S (CTSS) expression and SLE. To investigate the mechanism of CTSS in SLE, CTSS-overexpressing transgenic (TG) mice were generated, and induced lupus-like symptoms. Eight months later, the TG mice spontaneously developed typical SLE symptoms regardless of the inducement. Furthermore, we observed increased toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) expression with increased monocyte and neutrophil populations in the TG mice. In conclusion, overexpression of CTSS in mice influences TLR7 expression, autoantibodies and IFN-α, which leads to an autoimmune reaction and exacerbates lupus-like symptoms.

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No competing interests reported.
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
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Posted 11 Feb, 2021
On 01 Apr, 2021
Received 15 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
Invitations sent on 05 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
On 29 Jan, 2021
Posted 11 Feb, 2021
On 01 Apr, 2021
Received 15 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
Invitations sent on 05 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
On 05 Feb, 2021
On 29 Jan, 2021
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. Recent studies suggest relevance between cysteine protease cathepsin S (CTSS) expression and SLE. To investigate the mechanism of CTSS in SLE, CTSS-overexpressing transgenic (TG) mice were generated, and induced lupus-like symptoms. Eight months later, the TG mice spontaneously developed typical SLE symptoms regardless of the inducement. Furthermore, we observed increased toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) expression with increased monocyte and neutrophil populations in the TG mice. In conclusion, overexpression of CTSS in mice influences TLR7 expression, autoantibodies and IFN-α, which leads to an autoimmune reaction and exacerbates lupus-like symptoms.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4
No competing interests reported.
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
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