Determination of Survivin expression in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis and its relation with the survival of autoreactive T lymphocytes and microRNAs related to this pathway following stimulation to enter the activation-induced cell death phase (AICD)

Abstract

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is progressive immune-mediated arthritis. Persistent autoreactivity of T cells with an up-regulated Survivin expression is strongly implicated in AS immunopathogenesis. Material and methods: PBMCs were isolated from patients with AS and healthy matched controls using Ficoll-Hypaque. T cells were obtained using the magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) method. After that, the expression levels of Survivin, and specific miRNAs were determined using qT-qPCR. Then, the isolated T cells were co-cultured with interleukin (IL)-2 and muromonab-CD3 (OKT-3 to assess the correlation between T lymphocytes' resistance to apoptosis by determining the rate of apoptosis by Flowcytometry assay. Results: The results showed that Survivin was up-regulated in patients with AS. It was also revealed that microRNAs that directly or indirectly target the Survivin mRNA were dysregulated in patients with AS. It was revealed that T cells obtained from AS patients were more resistant to apoptosis induction than those obtained from healthy people.