A non-major histocompatibility locus determines tissue specificity in the pathogenic process underlying synovial...

The incidence and characteristics of spontaneous ankylosis in the ankle of specific F(1) mice descended from two Fas-deficient strains were reported. Here the coincidence of synovial proliferation and ankylosis in the descendent F(2) mice is reported.

To clarify whether the two distinct manifestations are genetically different.

An arthropathic group of mice (MCF(2)) were bred by intercrossing MRL/Mp.Fas(lpr)-sap(-)/sap(-) and C3H/He.Fas(lpr) mice. All mice were killed by bleeding under anaesthesia when they were 6 months old. Pathological grades for synovial proliferation were determined by microscopical examination. To obtain a linkage locus, the whole genome of male MCF(2) mice was scanned by using 73 microsatellite markers.

Synovial proliferation was equally observed in male and female MCF(2) mice. No correlation was observed between the grades of synovial proliferation and the ankylosis occurring in the MCF(2) mice. A suggestive susceptibility locus was shown in the middle of chromosome 11. This locus was an MRL allele with a recessive inheritance mode.

The pathogenic mechanisms of synovial proliferation and ankylosis are genetically different. The present locus is overlapped with some loci associated with rheumatoid arthritis and with others associated with experimental arthritides.