Fig. 2: IL-31 and IL-31RA were up-regulated in skin and DFs of SSc patients.
From: Interleukin-31 promotes fibrosis and T helper 2 polarization in systemic sclerosis
a Relative mRNA expression levels of Il31 and Il31ra were analyzed by real-time PCR in the skin of SSc patients (n = 10) and healthy controls (n = 6). Exact p values = 0.0002 (Il31); 0.0002 (Il31ra). Relative fold differences = 2.37 (Il31); 3.89 (Il31ra). b Representative double-immunofluorescence images for IL-31 (top, red), IL-31RA (bottom, red), FSP-1 (green), and nuclei (DAPI, blue) in the skin of SSc patients and healthy controls (scale bar=20 µm). The results shown are representative of three independent experiments with similar results. c, d. Relative mRNA levels (c) and protein levels (d) of IL-31 and IL-31RA in DFs from SSc patients and healthy controls (n = 7, respectively) were assessed by real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. Exact p values = 0.007 (Il31); 0.0006 (Il31ra); 0.004 (IL-31); 0.0006 (IL-31RA). Relative fold differences = 2.05 (Il31); 3.13 (Il31ra). e. Relative mRNA expression levels of Il31 and Il31ra were examined by real-time PCR in SSc DFs stimulated with IL-4 or IL-13 (n = 5, respectively). Exact p values (IL-4 0.1 ng/ml vs. media, IL-4 1 ng/ml vs. media, IL-4 10 ng/ml vs. media, IL-13 0.1 ng/ml vs. media, IL-13 1 ng/ml vs. media, IL-13 10 ng/ml vs. media) = 0.841, 0.008, 0.008, 0.151, 0.841, 0.548 (Il31); 0.310, 0.008, 0.008, 0.999, 0.008, 0.008 (Il31ra). Relative fold differences (IL-4 0.1 ng/ml, IL-4 1 ng/ml, IL-4 10 ng/ml, IL-13 0.1 ng/ml, IL-13 1 ng/ml, IL-13 10 ng/ml) = 1.02, 2.92, 6.78, 1.13, 0.98, 1.08 (Il31); 1.16, 5.36, 13.91, 1.01, 3.15, 4.76 (Il31ra). Data are presented as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 vs. healthy controls (a, c, and d) or media (e). Significance was determined by two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test. Ctrl, healthy controls. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
