Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • Vascular Malformations (Apr 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Top
  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal
  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
Article has an altmetric score of 3

See more details

Referenced in 6 patents
39 readers on Mendeley
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article (101)

Advertisement

Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI115964

Leukemia inhibitory factor is expressed in cartilage and synovium and can contribute to the pathogenesis of arthritis.

M Lotz, T Moats, and P M Villiger

Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research in Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093.

Find articles by Lotz, M. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research in Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093.

Find articles by Moats, T. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research in Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093.

Find articles by Villiger, P. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar

Published September 1, 1992 - More info

Published in Volume 90, Issue 3 on September 1, 1992
J Clin Invest. 1992;90(3):888–896. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI115964.
© 1992 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published September 1, 1992 - Version history
View PDF
Abstract

This study reports on leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in human articular connective tissues. Biologically active LIF is present in synovial fluids from patients with osteoarthritis and at higher titers in samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Cultured human synoviocytes and articular chondrocytes produced biologically active LIF and synthesized and secreted LIF proteins that migrated in SDS PAGE at approximately 43 kD. This was increased after stimulation with IL-1 beta. Chondrocytes in serum-containing cultures expressed the 4.2-kb LIF mRNA. IL-1 beta, LPS, and to a lesser extent tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced LIF gene expression. LIF autoinduced its mRNA and this provides evidence for an effect of this cytokine on function of joint tissue cells. Among a series of growth factors tested, transforming growth factor (TGF beta), including the isoforms TGF-beta1, TGF-beta 2, and TGF-beta 3, platelet-derived growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and insulin-like growth factor induced this cytokine gene but differed with respect to the duration of their effects. Cultured synoviocytes expressed the LIF gene in response to the same set of peptide regulatory factors. Analysis of signal transduction pathways showed that PMA increased LIF mRNA, whereas calcium ionophore and cAMP had no detectable effects. Cycloheximide was a potent LIF mRNA inducer and dexamethasone inhibited LIF induced by PMA or IL-1 beta. Cartilage organ cultures and synovial tissues stimulated with IL-1 expressed high levels of LIF mRNA as demonstrated by in situ hybridization. These results identify LIF as a new cytokine that is produced by joint tissue cells and is overexpressed in arthritis. The induction of this cytokine by factors that are present during joint inflammation and the effects of LIF on connective tissue cells suggest that LIF is a mediator that can contribute to the pathogenesis of arthritis.

Images.

Browse pages

Click on an image below to see the page. View PDF of the complete article

icon of scanned page 888
page 888
icon of scanned page 889
page 889
icon of scanned page 890
page 890
icon of scanned page 891
page 891
icon of scanned page 892
page 892
icon of scanned page 893
page 893
icon of scanned page 894
page 894
icon of scanned page 895
page 895
icon of scanned page 896
page 896
Version history
  • Version 1 (September 1, 1992): No description

Article tools

  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal

Metrics

Article has an altmetric score of 3
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article (101)

Go to

  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
Advertisement
Advertisement

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts

Referenced in 6 patents
39 readers on Mendeley
See more details