Post-transcriptional regulation through the AU-rich element (ARE) by ARE binding proteins (ARBPs) has an important role in controlling the production of cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Therefore, expression of ARBPs may influence, or may be influenced, by the severity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We measured the gene expression of ARBPs, including tristetraprolin, T-cell intracellular antigen (TIA)-1 and Hu antigen R (HuR), in synovial tissues from RA and osteoarthritis patients. cDNA was constructed from synovial tissues obtained from 21 patients with RA, and those from 12 patients with osteoarthritis. Gene expression was measured using the TaqMan PCR real-time quantification method. No significant differences were observed in the expression of tristetraprolin, TIA-1 or HuR genes between RA and osteo-arthritis synovium samples. No significant relationships between expression of tristetraprolin, TIA-1 or HuR genes and TNF-α gene expression serum CRP levels in samples from RA patients were observed. A significant positive relationship was observed between gene expression levels of TIA-1 and HuR. While HuR stabilizes TNF-α mRNA and enhances TNF-α production, TIA-1 acts as a post-transcriptional silencer, and suppresses the production of the TNF-α protein. The clear positive relationship between the expression of these two ARBPs may imply that the expression of either gene affects the expression of the other, or the mechanisms that control the expression of these genes have some factors in common.

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