Alessandra Nerviani, Marie-Astrid Boutet, Giulia Maria Ghirardi, Katriona Goldmann, Elisabetta Sciacca, Felice Rivellese, Elena Pontarini, Edoardo Prediletto, Federico Abatecola, Mattia Caliste, Sara Pagani, Daniele Mauro, Mattia Bellan, Cankut Cubuk, Rachel Lau, Sarah E Church, Briana M Hudson, Frances Humby, Michele Bombardieri, Myles J Lewis, Costantino Pitzalis
The TAM tyrosine kinases, Axl and MerTK, play an important role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here, using a unique synovial tissue bioresource of patients with RA matched for disease stage and treatment exposure, we assessed how Axl and MerTK relate to synovial histopathology and disease activity, and their topographical expression and longitudinal modulation by targeted treatments. We show that in treatment-naive patients, high AXL levels are associated with pauci-immune histology and low disease activity and inversely correlate with the expression levels of pro-inflammatory genes...
March 16, 2024: Nature Communications