{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T20:28:38Z","timestamp":1785270518370,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]],"date-time":"2025-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750291200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":169,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Beijing Natural Science Foundation","award":["7242160"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7242160"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012401","name":"Beijing Science and Technology Planning Project","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Z191100006619111"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Z191100006619111"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012401","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005089","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["7254438"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7254438"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005089","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82071814"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82071814"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["92374101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["92374101"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Peking University People\u2019s Hospital Scientific Research Development Funds","award":["RDEB2024-04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RDEB2024-04"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Lupus Sci Med"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,18]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>To assess the clinical significance of Mer receptor tyrosine kinase (MerTK) on circulating natural killer (NK) cells in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>63 patients with SLE and 36 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited in this study. Peripheral blood samples were collected from all participants. MerTK expression on circulating NK cells (CD3<jats:sup>\u2212<\/jats:sup>CD56<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>) was detected by flow cytometry. MerTK expression was compared between patients with SLE and HCs or lupus nephritis (LN) and non-LN subgroups, and its correlation with clinical or laboratory features was also investigated. Bioinformatic analysis was conducted to explore the potential function of <jats:italic>MERTK<\/jats:italic> in NK cells in SLE.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>MerTK expression on circulating NK cells was significantly higher in patients with SLE than that in HCs. In patients with SLE, NK-cell specific MerTK expression was positively correlated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K), anti-double-stranded DNA antibody levels, proportions and absolute count of B lymphocytes, but negatively correlated with complement C3, complement C4, proportions and absolute count of NK cells. Moreover, NK-cell specific MerTK expression was significantly higher in the LN group than that in the non-LN group. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that <jats:italic>MERTK<\/jats:italic> was one of the dysregulated NK-cell related genes in SLE, and the differentially expressed genes related to <jats:italic>MERTK<\/jats:italic> were associated with biological pathways including NK cell activation and response to type I interferon (IFN-I). In vitro study showed that MerTK expression on NK cells was increased after IFN-I treatment.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The expression of MerTK on circulating NK cells was significantly elevated in patients with SLE, particularly in patients with LN, and was correlated with disease activity and autoantibody titres. <jats:italic>MERTK<\/jats:italic> expression may be related to regulation of NK cell activation and induced by IFN-I in SLE. Our findings indicate that circulating NK-cell specific expression of MerTK may play a role in the development and progression of SLE.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/lupus-2024-001407","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]],"date-time":"2025-06-19T23:10:13Z","timestamp":1750374613000},"page":"e001407","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Expression pattern and clinical significance of MerTK on circulating NK cells in systemic lupus erythematosus"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-8331-2486","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Renge","family":"Liang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People\u2019s Hospital & Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135), Beijing, 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People\u2019s Hospital & Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135), Beijing, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yin","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People\u2019s Hospital & Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135), Beijing, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianping","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People\u2019s Hospital & Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135), Beijing, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2733-0048","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yin","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rheumatology and 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