Regulation of human leukocyte antigen expression in human conjunctival epithelium.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate that interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is the key cytokine responsible for the upregulation of HLA-DR antigen in conjunctival epithelial cells of Sjogren syndrome (SS) patients.
METHODS: Flow cytometry of conjunctival epithelial cells from SS and non-SS dry eye patients was performed for the quantification of HLA-DR surface expression. With a conjunctival epithelial cell line (ChWK), HLA-DR regulation by various cytokines was evaluated, and confocal immunocytochemical and western blot analyses were performed to evaluate the activation of nuclear factorkappa B (NF-kappaB) and signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 and 3 (STAT1 and STAT3, respectively).
RESULTS: HLA-DR expression was upregulated in conjunctival epithelial cells of SS patients but not in non-SS dry eye patient or healthy control subject. IFN-gamma was the only cytokine that effectively upregulated HLA-DR expression in ChWK, which was synergistically enhanced by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). IFN-gamma induced the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB, but did not activate STAT1 or STAT3 in ChWK.
CONCLUSIONS: Upregulation of HLA-DR antigen in the conjunctival epithelium of SS patients may be regulated by IFN-gamma through the activation of NF-kappaB.