부산대학교 도서관

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an immune-mediated disease frequently associated with thymic changes. Increased T helper 17 (Th17) cell activity and dysfunctional regulatory T (Treg) cells have been demonstrated in subgroups of MG. On the other hand, hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) has been shown to regulate the Th17/Treg balance by inducing Th17 differentiation while attenuating Treg development. To identify the underlying mechanisms of different thymic pathologies in MG development, we evaluated thymic samples from thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis (TAMG), MG with hyperplasia (TFH-MG) and thymoma without MG (TOMA) patients. Differential gene expression analysis revealed that TAMG and TFH-MG cells are associated with different functional pathways. A higher RORC/FOXP3 ratio provided evidence for Th17/Treg imbalance in TAMG potentially related to increased HIF1A. The hypoxic microenvironment in thymoma may be a driver of TAMG by increasing HIF1A. These findings may lead to new therapeutic approaches targeting HIF1A in the development of TAMG. Keywords: Thymoma, Thymus, Myasthenia gravis, Hypoxia-inducible factor-1
Author(s): Ä°layda Altinönder[sup.1], Mustafa Kaya[sup.1], Sibel P. Yentür[sup.1], Arman Çakar[sup.2], Hacer DurmuÅ[sup.2], Gülçin Yegen[sup.3], Berker üzkan[sup.4], YeÅim Parman[sup.2], Amr H. Sawalha[sup.5] and Guher Saruhan-Direskeneli[sup.1] Introduction Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an [...]