Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 22, 2025
Detecting Migration and Infiltration of Neutrophils in Mice
Published on: February 6, 2020
NKG2D ligands in inflammatory joint diseases: analysis in human samples and mouse models
Alexandre Mariotte1, Livio Bernardi2, Cécile Macquin1
1Université de Strasbourg, INSERM, ImmunoRhumatologie Moléculaire UMR_S 1109, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Faculté de Médecine, Strasbourg, and Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire, OMICARE, Centre de Recherche d'Immunologie et d'Hématologie, Strasbourg, France.
Objectives:
NKG2D ligands (NKG2DLs) are stress-inducible molecules involved in multiple inflammatory settings. In this work, we quantified MICA, an NKG2DL, in the synovial fluid of patients suffering various arthritides and measured Nkg2dLs gene expression in murine models of acute joint inflammation.
Methods:
Soluble MICA (sMICA) was quantified by ELISA is synovial fluids harvested from patients suffering osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, calcium pyrophosphate crystal arthritis, urate crystal arthritis and reactive arthritis. Transcripts encoding murine NKG2DLs were quantified by RT-qPCR in the joints of mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis, urate crystal arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Results:
Marked overproduction of sMICA was observed in the synovial fluid of RA patients. Mouse studies highlighted the complex transcriptional regulation of Nkg2d ligands encoding genes depending on the inflammatory setting and microenvironment CONCLUSIONS: sMICA quantification could be an interesting biomarker to identify acute inflammation in RA patients in whom classical markers (i.e. anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, ACPA) are undetectable.
