Journal of Inflammation Research (Dec 2018)

Expression analysis of protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS) genes in IFNβ-treated multiple sclerosis patients

  • Taheri M,
  • Azimi G,
  • Sayad A,
  • Mazdeh M,
  • Arsang-Jang S,
  • Omrani MD,
  • Ghafouri-Fard S

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 11
pp. 457 – 463

Abstract

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Mohammad Taheri,1,* Ghazaleh Azimi,2,* Arezou Sayad,2 Mehrdokht Mazdeh,3 Shahram Arsang-Jang,4,5 Mir Davood Omrani,5 Soudeh Ghafori-Fard2 1Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Department of Medical Genetics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; 4Clinical Research Development Center (CRDU), Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran; 5Urogenital Stem Cell Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran *These authors contributed equally to this work Objectives: Protein inhibitors of activated STAT (PIAS) are transcription co-regulator of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling pathway as well as nuclear factor-κB family of transcription factors. Both of them are involved in cytokine release during inflammatory response. Patients and methods: Considering the role of cytokine imbalance in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), we compared blood expressions of PIAS1-4 genes in 48 interferon β (IFNβ)-treated MS patients with those of healthy subjects by means of real time PCR. Results: Although the expression levels of these genes were not significantly different between MS patients and healthy subjects, significant inverse correlations have been found between PIAS1 expression and age at disease onset. PIAS2 and PIAS3 expressions were inversely correlated with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) in patients. Moreover, PIAS3 expression was correlated with disease duration in patients and with age in controls. In addition, PIAS4 expression was inversely correlated with EDSS and age at disease onset while it was positively correlated with disease duration. Conclusion: The present study provides evidences for altered expression of PIAS genes in IFNβ-treated MS patients compared with healthy subjects. However, future studies are needed for elaboration of their exact function in this disorder. Keywords: multiple sclerosis, JAK/STAT pathway, protein inhibitors of activated STAT, PIAS

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