This article is part of a series on The Scientific Basis of Rheumatology: A Decade of Progress, edited by Peter Lipsky and Ravinder Maini.

Review

Cell signalling in macrophages, the principal innate immune effector cells of rheumatoid arthritis

Stefan K Drexler, Philip L Kong, Jeremy Wales and Brian M Foxwell

Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology Division, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, 65 Aspenlea Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8LH, UK

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Arthritis Research & Therapy 2008, 10:216doi:10.1186/ar2481

Published:	10 October 2008

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a multisystemic auto-inflammatory disease affecting up to 1% of the population and leading to the destruction of the joints. Evidence exists for the involvement of the innate as well as the adaptive immune systems in the pathology of the disease. The success of anti-tumour necrosis factor-α indicates the importance of pro-inflammatory mediators produced by innate immune cells in rheumatoid arthritis progression. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made in elucidating the signalling pathways leading to the expression of those mediators. This review will concentrate on the role of signalling pathways in innate immune cells in the context of rheumatoid arthritis.