Cytokine dependent hematopoietic cell linker (CLNK) is highly elevated in blood transfusion dependent beta-thalassemia major patients

Abnormalities in red blood cell production and pathogenesis of anemia in the progression of rock bream iridovirus (RBIV)

Rock bream iridovirus (RBIV), belonging to Megalocytivirus, causes severe mortality in rock bream. Almost all deaths associated with RBIV are accompanied by splenic enlargement and anemia. Although red blood cells (RBCs) are involved in the immune response against viral infections, their involvement in rock bream has not yet been studied in terms of the immune response against RBIV. In this study, the viral replication patterns, blood characteristics and anemia-related factors were evaluated in rock bream post RBIV infection. The virus-infected RBCs of rock bream demonstrated similarities in the expression levels of hemoglobins (HGB) (α and β), cytokine-dependent hematopoietic cell linker (CLNK) and hematopoietic transcription factor GATA (GATA), with significantly decreasing levels from 4 days post infection (dpi) to 17 (dpi), when the viral replication was at its peak. This suggests that the expression of blood-related genes is inadequate for HGB synthesis and RBC production, thereby causing anemia leading to death. Moreover, the levels of complete blood cell count (CBC) indicators, such as RBCs, HGB and hematocrit (HCT), significantly decreased from 10 to 17 dpi. This phenomenon suggests that blood-related gene expression and/or RBC-, HGB- and HCT-related levels are critical factors in RBIV-induced anemia and disease progression. These results highlight the significance of blood-mediated immune responses against RBIV infection in rock bream. Understanding blood-related gene levels to identify blood-related immune response interactions in rock bream will be useful for development of future strategies in controlling RBIV diseases in rock bream.

Serum cytokine dependent hematopoietic cell linker (CLNK) as a predictor for the duration of illness in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an endocrine illness associated with various changes in the immune system and adaptor protein levels. Cytokine dependent hematopoietic cell linker (CLNK) is an adapter protein that regulates immune receptor signaling and acts as a regulator of the receptor signaling of T-cells and natural killer cells. The role of CLNK in T2DM is not studied previously. In the present study, serum CLNK level was measured and correlated with some sociodemographic and insulin resistance (IR) parameters. To achieve these goals, we measured CLNK level and insulin parameters (glucose, insulin, HbA1c, in addition to the calculation of the functions of IR (HOMA2IR), insulin sensitivity (HOMA%S), and beta-cell function (HOMA%B)) in 60 T2DM patients and 30 controls. The results indicated a significant increase (p < 0.05) in serum CLNK in patients group in comparison with the controls. Multivariate generalized linear model (GLM) analysis revealed no significant effect of age, BMI, and sex on the CLNK level. The results of tests for between-subjects showed that the CLNK affects diagnosis significantly (F = 7.445, p = 0.008, partial η² = 0.081) and its effect is approximately the same as the effect of insulin (F = 8.107, p = 0.006, partial η² = 0.087). The correlation study showed a highly significant positive correlation between CLNK and the duration of disease (rho = 0.420, p < 0.001). It can be concluded that the increase CLNK in T2DM revealing the role of the adaptor proteins level in the progression of the disease and may act as a predictor for diabetes complications, which deserves more investigations.