Objective: To investigate the expression of leucine zipper gene transcription factor ATF-like protein (basucucinezipper transcription factor, ATF-like, BATF) in the kidney tissue of lupus mice and its clinical significance.
Method: 24-week-old MRL/lpr female mice were used as the lupus nephritis model group, and C57BL/6 female mice of the same age were used as the normal control group. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of BATF protein in kidney tissue, and RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of BATF, RORγt and IL-17 mRNA in kidney tissue. At the same time, it can be used to detect mouse urine protein, serum anti-ds-DNA antibodies and kidney histopathology. The correlation between BATF mRNA and RORγt and IL-17 mRNA was analyzed.
Result: The urine protein and serum anti-ds-DNA antibody levels of lupus mice were higher than those of normal mice (P\u003c0.05). The pathological characteristics of kidney tissue in lupus mice are mainly the proliferation of glomerular mesangial cells and the infiltration of a large number of inflammatory cells in the renal interstitium, but normal mice have no obvious abnormalities. The expression of BATF mRNA and protein in the kidney tissue of lupus mice was higher than that of normal mice (P\u003c0.05). The expression of RORγt and IL-17 mRNA in the kidney tissue of lupus mice increased, and the expression of BATF mRNA was positively correlated with the expression of RORγt and IL-17 mRNA (r = 0.945, 0.876, P\u003c0.05).
Conclusion: BATF mRNA and protein expressions in the kidney tissue of lupus mice are higher than those of the control group, and BATF may participate in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis by up-regulating Th17 immune response.