La proteína asociada a SLAM (SAP) regula la expresión de IFN-g en lepra

tuberculoid leprosy patients locally produce th1 cytokines, while lepromatous patients produce th2 cytokines. signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (slam) and the slam-associated protein (sap) participate in the differentiation process that leads to the production of specific patterns of cytokines by activated t cells. to investigate the slam/sap pathway in m. leprae infection, we determined the expression of sap, ifn-g and slam rna messenger in leprosy patients. we found a direct correlation of slam expression with ifn-g expression, whereas the expression of sap was inversely correlated with the expression of both slam and ifn-g. therefore, our data indicate that sap might interfere with th1 cytokine responses while slam expression may contribute to th1 responses in leprosy. this study further suggests that the slam/sap pathway might be a focal point for therapeutic modulation of t cell cytokine responses in diseases characterized by dysfunctional th2 responses.