The choice of inhibitors of transcription factor NF-κBp65 and selective modulators for estrogen receptor alpha are proposed areas of lupus drug discovery research.
We have previously observed that expression of ERα gene and protein in lupus patients is significantly higher than in healthy controls and that estradiol up-regulates calcineurin expression via over-expression of ERα gene in SLE.
A model is proposed that suggests estrogen, acting through the estrogen receptor, enhances T cell activation in women with lupus resulting in amplified T-B cells interactions, B cell activation and autoantibody production.
Peripheral blood T cells and monocytes and B cell lines derived from patients with lupus express estrogen receptor transcripts similar to those of normal cells.