Additional file 1: of Reduction of autophagy and increase in apoptosis correlates with a favorable clinical outcome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with anti-TNF drugs

Figure S1. Autophagy and apoptosis levels in PBMCs isolated from responding (A) and non-responding (B) patients to anti-TNF drugs alone or anti-TNF drugs plus methotrexate. Figure S2. Relation between autophagy and citrullination in RA patients. A. Levels of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP Abs) in patients with RA before and after treatment with anti-TNF drugs. Values are expressed as means ± sd. B. Correlation between anti-CCP antibodies levels (U/ml) and spontaneous autophagy (expressed as LC3-II) and apoptosis (expressed as percentage of Annexin V-positive cells). C. Changes in autophagy and apoptosis before and after treatment with anti-TNF drugs in relation to anti-CCP in RA responding patients. Figure S3. Flow cytometry gate strategy for purification of CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes from patients with RA. Allophycocyanin = APC; Peridinin chlorophyll protein = PerCP; Phycoerythrin = PE; Fluorescein isothiocyanate = FITC. Figure S4. Effect of TNFα on apoptosis. Flow cytometry analysis of apoptosis in PBMCs after treatment with TNFα. Apoptosis is expressed as percentage of AV-positive cells. Representative dot plots (PI on y axis vs. AV on x axis), chosen as representative of five experiments, are also shown. Table S1. Clinical, demographic and serological characteristics of patients with RA enrolled for sorting experiments (n = 8). (PDF 673 kb