Consenso brasileiro para transplante de células-tronco hematopoéticas para tratamento de doenças autoimunes Brazilian consensus on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for autoimmune diseases

Neste trabalho, foram revisadas a literatura internacional e a experiência nacional com transplante de células-tronco hematopoéticas (TCTH) para doenças autoimunes. A evidência acumulada indica que o TCTH autólogo pode beneficiar pacientes com esclerose múltipla em fase inflamatória, refratária aos tratamentos medicamentosos disponíveis, e pacientes com esclerose sistêmica cutânea difusa de caráter progressivo, com ou sem comprometimento sistêmico. Esse tratamento deveria ser disponibilizado na rede pública de saúde, numa fase inicial, em centros de referência com experiência em TCTH e no manejo clínico de doenças autoimunes sistêmicas graves.In this paper, international literature and national experience on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for autoimmune diseases were reviewed. Cumulative evidence indicates that autologous HSCT may benefit patients with inflammatory multiple esclerosis, refractory to available drug therapy, and progressive forms of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis with or without systemic involvement. Initially, this treatment should be available in reference centers of the public health system, with experience in performing HSCT and in treating severe systemic autoimmune diseases

miR-15a and 16-1 Are Downregulated in CD4(+) T Cells of Multiple Sclerosis Relapsing Patients

The pathology of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR-MS) is largely attributed to activated autoreactive effector T lymphocytes. The influence of microRNAs on the immune response has been shown to occur in different pathways of lymphocyte differentiation and function. Here, the expression of the miRNAs miR-15a/161 in PBMC, CD4(+), and CD8(+) from RR-MS patients has been investigated. BCL2, a known miR-15a/16-1 target, has also been analyzed. The results have shown that miR-15a/16-1 is downregulated in CD4(+) T cells, whereas BCL2 is highly expressed in RR-MS patients only. Our data suggest that miR-15a/16-1 can also modulate the BCL2 gene expression in CD4(+) T cells from RR-MS patients, thereby affecting apoptosis processes.FAPESP [2010/00310-1, 1998/14247-6]CNPQCAPESFUNDHER

A non-functional galanin receptor-2 in a multiple sclerosis patient

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 2.5 million people globally. Even though the etiology of MS remains unknown, it is accepted that it involves a combination of genetic alterations and environmental factors. Here, after performing whole exome sequencing, we found a MS patient harboring a rare and homozygous single nucleotide variant (SNV; rs61745847) of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) galanin-receptor 2 (GALR2) that alters an important amino acid in the TM6 molecular toggle switch region (W249L). Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging showed that the hypothalamus (an area rich in GALR2) of this patient exhibited an important volumetric reduction leading to an enlarged third ventricle. Ex vivo experiments with patient-derived blood cells (AKT phosphorylation), as well as studies in recombinant cell lines expressing the human GALR2 (calcium mobilization and NFAT mediated gene transcription), showed that galanin (GAL) was unable to stimulate cell signaling in cells expressing the variant GALR2 allele. Live cell confocal microscopy showed that the GALR2 mutant receptor was primarily localized to intracellular endosomes. We conclude that the W249L SNV is likely to abrogate GAL-mediated signaling through GALR2 due to the spontaneous internalization of this receptor in this patient. Although this homozygous SNV was rare in our MS cohort (1:262 cases), our findings raise the potential importance of impaired neuroregenerative pathways in the pathogenesis of MS, warrant future studies into the relevance of the GAL/GALR2 axis in MS and further suggest the activation of GALR2 as a potential therapeutic route for this disease1917282CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP480138/2013-323038.007775/2014-98; 7350-15-5; 1197-79-42013/24293-7, 2015/07925-5, 2016/06488-3Associacao Beneficente Alzira Denise Hertzog Silva (ABADHS); Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES, Brazil)CAPES [23038.007775/2014-98, 7350-15-5, 1197-79-4]; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq, Brazil)National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [480138/2013-3]; Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao PauloFundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2013/24293-7, 2015/07925-5, 2016/06488-3