Specific Aim 1. Study DcR3-induced T cell activation in SLE and RA. A. Patients and controls Patients with SLE and RA in Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital will be studied. All patient meet the criteria of the American College of Rheumatologists for diagnosis of SLE and RA. As controls, 20 healthy age- and gender-matched volunteers will be used. All the studies including samples involving human is in accordance with institutional guidelines.
B. Detection of serum DcR3 protein in SLE and RA patients C. T cell proliferation assay
Specific Aim 2. Study effects of DcR3 on activation-induced cell death (AICD) in SLE and RA In order to understand whether DcR3 could reduce the AICD in activated T cells in SLE and RA patients, the T cells from these patients will be assayed their AICD in the presence and absence of soluble DcR3-Fc.
Specific Aim 3. To investigate the association of clinical manifestation of SLE and RA with genetic polymorphism on DcR3 genes.
A. The gene sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of DcR3 genes.
B. The association of clinical manifestation of SLE and RA with genetic polymorphism on DcR3 genes.
