Gene Expression Profiling of Toll-Like Receptor 4 and 5 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Systemic Sclerosis

The Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) family is appeared to be expressed in many cell types in the immune system and plays a role in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases. The expression profile and role of TLRs in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) have been partly explained. It is aimed through this investigation to evaluate the expression pattern of TLR 4 and 5 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) from SSc patients. PBMCs were isolated from whole blood of 20 SSc patients and 50 healthy individuals. Total RNA content of leukocytes was extracted. Then, cDNA was synthesized from the mRNA of the cells. Afterward, Quantitative analysis was carried out through Real-Time PCR using the TaqMan Gene Expression Assays. An over expression of TLR5 mRNA in PBMCs from SSc patients was seen in comparison to healthy individuals. Nevertheless, the gene expression of TLR4 in SSc patients remained almost equal to controls. Our findings suggest that over expression of TLR5 in SSc patients may be involved in the pathogenesis of SSc.