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Fig. 3 | Arthritis Research & Therapy

Fig. 3

From: Overexpression of microRNA-155 increases IL-21 mediated STAT3 signaling and IL-21 production in systemic lupus erythematosus

Fig. 3

a Expression levels of microRNA-155 (miR-155) in CD4+ T cells. MiR-155 levels are significantly decreased in CD4+ T cells from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (n = 7) compared with healthy controls (HC) (n = 8). Bar indicates median. *p < 0.05 (Mann–Whitney U-test). b Induction of miR-155 by IL-21. CD4+ T cells from SLE patients and HCs (both n = 3) were stimulated with IL-21 and expression levels of miR-155 were measured. Graph shows mean and ± SEM. *p < 0.05 (RM two-way ANOVA). c IL-21 mediated miR-155 induction is STAT3-dependent. Expression levels of miR-155 in CD4+ T cells upon IL-21 stimulation with either cucurbitacin I (CucI) or vehicle (DMSO) as control (both n = 3). Induction of miR-155 was significantly reduced by inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation with CucI. Graph shows mean and ± SEM. *p < 0.05 (RM two-way ANOVA). d Expression levels of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) in SLE patients and HCs. SOCS1 expression levels are significantly increased in CD4+ T cells from SLE patients compared with HCs (both n = 9). Bar indicates median. **p < 0.01 (Mann–Whitney U-test). e Linear regression of expression levels of miR-155 versus SOCS1. The expression levels of miR-155 versus SOCS1 in CD4+ T cells correlated negatively and significantly (Spearman’s rank correlation) in SLE patients (n = 8) compared to HCs (n = 8)

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