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TLR4 knockout protects mice from radiation-induced thymic lymphoma by downregulation of IL6 and miR-21

Leukemia volume 25, pages 1516–1519 (2011)Cite this article

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Exposure to ionizing radiation has been proven to cause cancer and initiate mutagenesis in human and animal cells.1, 2 Studies of radiation-induced mouse thymic lymphomas, one of the classic models in radiation carcinogenesis, demonstrated that many factors like oncogene Ras and tumor suppressor gene p53 were involved in radiation-induced carcinogenesis.1 Our previous studies also found that ERK1/2, STAT3 and SHP-2 are also involved in γ-ray-induced thymic lymphomas in BALB/c mice.3 However, the mechanisms by which radiation induces thymic lymphomas are still unclear.

Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 belongs to the recently identified TLRs, which are the main sentinels in many types of immune cells.4, 5 Recent studies have shown that TLR4 functions not only as a sensor of microbial infection, where it is critical for the initiation of inflammatory and immune defense responses, but also has a direct relationship with the pathogenesis of many human and mouse diseases, such as infectious disease, autoimmune disease, diabetes mellitus and others.4, 5 However, the role of TLR4 in radiation-induced leukemia is not well known.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31070761 and No. 31070762) and by the grants from Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, China (No.09ZR1439400 and No. 11ZR1446400).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Medicine, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China

    C Liu, F Gao, B Li, J Lin, L Zhao & J Cai

  2. Chalk River Laboratories, Radiological Protection Research and Instrumentation Branch, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

    R E J Mitchel

  3. Model Animal Research Center, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    X Liu

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  1. C Liu
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  2. F Gao
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  3. B Li
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Correspondence to J Cai.

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Liu, C., Gao, F., Li, B. et al. TLR4 knockout protects mice from radiation-induced thymic lymphoma by downregulation of IL6 and miR-21. Leukemia 25, 1516–1519 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2011.113

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