2. Academic Validation
  3. Protein kinase cδ deficiency causes mendelian systemic lupus erythematosus with B cell-defective apoptosis and hyperproliferation

Protein kinase cδ deficiency causes mendelian systemic lupus erythematosus with B cell-defective apoptosis and hyperproliferation

  • Arthritis Rheum. 2013 Aug;65(8):2161-71. doi: 10.1002/art.38008.
Alexandre Belot 1,  Paul R Kasher,  Eleanor W Trotter,  Anne-Perrine Foray,  Anne-Laure Debaud,  Gillian I Rice,  Marcin Szynkiewicz,  Marie-Therese Zabot,  Isabelle Rouvet,  Sanjeev S Bhaskar,  Sarah B Daly,  Jonathan E Dickerson,  Josephine Mayer,  James O'Sullivan,  Laurent Juillard,  Jill E Urquhart,  Shameem Fawdar,  Anna A Marusiak,  Natalie Stephenson,  Bohdan Waszkowycz,  Michael W Beresford,  Leslie G Biesecker,  Graeme C M Black,  Céline René,  Jean-François Eliaou,  Nicole Fabien,  Bruno Ranchin,  Pierre Cochat,  Patrick M Gaffney,  Flore Rozenberg,  Pierre Lebon,  Christophe Malcus,  Yanick J Crow,  John Brognard,  Nathalie Bonnefoy
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Centre de Référence des Maladies Rénales Rares, Hospices Civils de Lyon, INSERM U1111, UMS3444/US8, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France.
PMID: 23666743 DOI: 10.1002/art.38008
Abstract

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype autoimmune disease that is assumed to occur via a complex interplay of environmental and genetic factors. Rare causes of monogenic SLE have been described, providing unique insights into fundamental mechanisms of immune tolerance. The aim of this study was to identify the cause of an autosomal-recessive form of SLE.

Methods: We studied 3 siblings with juvenile-onset SLE from 1 consanguineous kindred and used next-generation Sequencing to identify mutations in the disease-associated gene. We performed extensive biochemical, immunologic, and functional assays to assess the impact of the identified mutations on B Cell Biology.

Results: We identified a homozygous missense mutation in PRKCD, encoding protein kinase δ (PKCδ), in all 3 affected siblings. Mutation of PRKCD resulted in reduced expression and activity of the encoded protein PKCδ (involved in the deletion of autoreactive B cells), leading to resistance to B cell receptor- and calcium-dependent Apoptosis and increased B cell proliferation. Thus, as for mice deficient in PKCδ, which exhibit an SLE phenotype and B cell expansion, we observed an increased number of immature B cells in the affected family members and a developmental shift toward naive B cells with an immature phenotype.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that PKCδ is crucial in regulating B cell tolerance and preventing self-reactivity in humans, and that PKCδ deficiency represents a novel genetic defect of Apoptosis leading to SLE.

Figures