Background: Interleukin (IL)-1beta is thought to play a key role in several pathologic conditions of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Gene expression profile of synovial fibroblasts stimulated with IL-1beta was studied by oligonucleotide microarray analysis to elucidate candidate genes associated with intracapsular pathologic conditions of TMJ.
Methods: RNA was isolated from synovial fibroblasts from five patients after IL-1beta treatment. Gene expression profiling was performed with a GeneChip. Changes in gene expression were determined by comparing IL-1beta-treated cells with untreated cells.
Results: A total of 121 genes showed a greater than threefold difference in average intensity between untreated and IL-1beta-treated synovial fibroblasts in five experiments. Five chemokines were among the 10 most upregulated genes, and the most upregulated gene was CCL20. The 121 IL-1beta-responsive genes included 12 chemokines whose mRNA levels were confirmed by real-time PCR.
Conclusion: These data should provided useful information about the pathologic conditions of TMJ, especially in support of diagnosis and therapeutic approaches to TMJ.