Decoy receptor 3 ameliorates an autoimmune crescentic glomerulonephritis model in mice

Autoimmune crescentic glomerulonephritis (ACGN) is a variant of crescentic glomerulonephritis. The outcome of treatment of crescentic glomerulonephritis is poor. Binding of decoy receptor 3 (DCR3) to its ligand is capable of downregulating the alloresponsiveness of T cells. DCR3 has also been shown to benefit an experimental autoimmune model of diabetes. This study tested the hypothesis that a potential immune regulator, DCR3, could prevent the evolution of ACGN. With the use of an established ACGN model in mice, mice were treated with 100 mu g/10 g body wt human DCR3 by hydrodynamics-based gene delivery at 14-d intervals. The results showed that the gene therapy resulted in (1) suppression of T and B cell activation and T cell proliferation; (2) a reduction in serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines; (3) improvement of proteinuria and renal dysfunction; (4) prevention of glomerular crescent formation, renal interstitial inflammation, and glomerulosclerosis; (5) a reduction in serum levels of autoantibodies and glomerular immune deposits; (6) inhibition of apoptosis in the spleen and kidney; (7) prevention of T cell and macrophage infiltration of the kidney; and (8) suppression of fibrosis-related gene expression in the kidney compared with empty vector-treated (disease control) ACGN mice. On the basis of these findings, it is proposed that human DCR3 exerts its preventive and protective effects on ACGN through modulation of T cell activation/proliferation, B cell activation, protection against apoptosis, and suppression of mononuclear leukocyte infiltration in the kidney.