Immunomodulation of RA Patients’ PBMC with a Multiepitope Peptide Derived from Citrullinated Autoantigens

Figure 2

Cit-ME peptide upregulates TGF-β and downregulates TNF-α and IL-1β mRNA expression. PBMC of RA patients () were cultured (5 × 10⁵ cells/well) for 24 hours in the presence of citrullinated peptides (1.25 μg/mL). TGF-β, TNF-α, and IL-1β mRNA gene expression was determined by real-time RT-PCR. Results are presented as the mean ± SE percentage of gene expression.

(a)

(b)