The complement inhibitor, Crry, which blocks both the classical and alternative pathways, alleviates CNS disease in the lupus model, MRL/MpJ-Tnfrsf6lpr (MRL/lpr) mice. To understand the role of the alternative pathway, we studied mice deficient in a key alternative pathway protein, complement factor B (fB). Immune deposits (IgG and C3) were reduced in the brains of MRL/lpr fB-deficient (fB -/-MRL/lpr) compared to fBsufficient (MRL/lpr) mice, indicating reduced complement activation. Reduced neutrophil infiltration (22% of MRL/lpr mice) and apoptosis (caspase-3 activity was reduced to 33% of MRL/lpr mice) in these mice indicates that the absence of the alternative pathway was neuroprotective. Furthermore, expression of phospho (p)-Akt (0.16 AE 0.02 vs. 0.35 AE 0.13, p <0.03) was increased, while expression of p-PTEN (0.40 AE 0.06 vs. 0.11 AE 0.07, p <0.05) was decreased in fB -/-MRL/lpr mice compared to their MRL/lpr counterparts. The expression of fibronectin, laminin and collagen IV was significantly decreased in fB -/-MRL/lpr mice compared to MRL/lpr mice, indicating that in the lupus setting, tissue integrity was maintained in the absence of the alternative pathway. Absence of fB reduced behavioral alterations in MRL/lpr mice. Our results suggest that in lupus, the alternative pathway may be the key mechanism through which complement activation occurs in brain, and therefore it might serve as a therapeutic target for lupus cerebritis.
IntroductionSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, with central nervous system (CNS) involvement occurring in 20-70% of patients. Complement activation is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of SLE [1]. The relevance of complement in lupus cerebritis is supported by enhanced C3 and C4 index values in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients [2] and increased levels of the anaphylatoxins, C3a and C5a, which correlate with the CNS flares [3]. This is also true in experimental lupus cerebritis, and is supported by our recent studies, in which systemic inhibition of the C3/C5 convertases reduced pathological alterations in the CNS of the lupus mouse model, MRL/MpJ-Tnfrsf6lpr (MRL/lpr) mice [4,5]. Complement can be activated through classical, alternative and lectin pathways. Complement factor B (fB) is a key protein required for the activation of the alternative pathway [6] and is increased in circulation and in tissues of lupus mice [7][8][9]. In addition, fB solubilizes immune complexes, inhibits proliferation, acts as a B cell growth factor and activates monocytes 15]. Mice with targeted deletion of the fB gene (fB -/-) were protected from lupus nephritis and ischemiareperfusion injury [7,16]. However, the role of fB in the pathogenesis of lupus cerebritis has not been defined. Bb, one of the split products of fB, can induce apoptosis [17], which is a key feature in the brains of MRL/lpr mice [5,18]. Apoptosis can also be induced by several other factors such as nitric oxide (NO), edema, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins through integrin si...