Figure 3. Th2 cytokine gene expression in giant papillae in atopic keratoconjunctivitis

To examine the correlation between helper T2 (Th2) cytokine and CCR4 gene expression, IL-4 and IL-13 gene expression was measured with the multi-probe ribonuclease protection assay RPA method. A: A representative autoradiograph from two sets of results. B: The averaged amounts of chemokine receptor mRNA (determined from densitometric analysis of the RPA analysis) of two sets of results normalized to housekeeping gene L32. The vertical axes have arbitrary units based on densitometry. In comparison to IL-4 mRNA levels in normal conjunctivae, comparatively high IL-4 mRNA levels are detected in four out of five AKC patients. The IL-4 mRNA expression level of patient 5 is similar to that of normal conjunctivae. In IL-13 mRNA expression, elevated amounts of IL-13 mRNA are present in the giant papillae of four out of five patients. In contrast, no apparent IL-13 mRNA is detected in giant papillae of patient 5. Two sets of results on separate experiments were analyzed, and the average density is shown as the results of densitometric analysis.