Open AccessExpression of tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) mRNA and protein in pathological thyroid tissue and carcinoma cell lines
Author(s) -
AUST G.,
HEUER M.,
LAUE S.,
LEHMANN I.,
HOFMANN A.,
HELDIN N.E.,
SCHERBAUM W. A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1996.d01-726.x
Subject(s) - thyroid , thyroiditis , thyroid carcinoma , tumor necrosis factor alpha , medicine , endocrinology , cd3 , flow cytometry , pathology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , antigen , cd8
There has been much controversy about the presence of TNF‐α within thyroid tissue. We therefore conducted a study to determine if TNF‐α mRNA is present in thyroid tissue and thyroid‐derived cells. Semiquantitative reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was employed with a heterologous competitor fragment. Significantly lower levels of TNF‐α mRNA were found in the autonomous nodules from patients with thyroid autonomy (TA; n = 4; 5.7 ± 1.3 arbitrary units (AU) (mean ± s.e.m.); P < 0.03) and in normal thyroid tissue ( n = 2, 7.0 ± 3.1 AU) compared with tissue from patients with Graves’ disease (GD; n = 13; 27.9 ± 10.3 AU), non‐toxic multinodular goitre (NTG; n = 5; 20.9 ± 5.8 AU) and perinodular tissue from TA patients (20.3 ± 4.0 AU). Higher levels were detected in tissues from patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT; n = 2; 51.3 ± 10.3 AU). Cultures of pure thyroid‐derived fibroblasts (46 ± 18 AU), thyrocytes (33 ± 8 AU), and the anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell lines 8505 C (39 ± 11 AU), SW 1736 (214 ± 16 AU) and C 643 (3 ± 1 AU) showed significantly lower TNF‐α mRNA levels than thyroid‐derived lymphocytes (1650 ± 32 AU). TNF‐α was detected in the supernatants of unstimulated lymphocytes (22.1 ± 1.1 pg/ml) and SW 1736 cells (3.5 ± 0.9 pg/ml), but not in unstimulated fibroblasts and thyrocytes. Using an intracellular labelling technique in flow cytometry, the immunophenotype of stimulated TNF‐α‐positive lymphocytes was determined as predominantly CD3 + CD45RO + . Our results suggest that TNF‐α is present in the thyroid tissue of different thyroid disorders. Thyroid‐derived lymphocytes are potential TNF‐α producers and may thus locally influence thyroid function.