Epitope patterns of Anti-RNP antibodies in rheumatic diseases evidence for an antigen-driven autoimmune response
✍ Scribed by Winand J. Habets; Margot H. Hoet; Walther J.Van Venrooij
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 692 KB
- Volume
- 33
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0004-3591
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✦ Synopsis
Autoantibodies against small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP) are common in systemic lupus erythematosus and related disorders. The 3 categories, anti-(Ul)RNP, anti-(UI,U2)RNP, and anti-Sm, all contain a common antibody specificity directed against the U 1 snRNP-associated A protein. To determine the specificity of a n t i 4 1 snRNP A protein antibodies for various antigenic sites, we tested 26 different anti-snRNPpositive sera for reactivity with fragments of the U1 snRNP A protein, which was produced using recombinant DNA technology. Several different fragments were shown to contain autoimmune-reactive epitopes, which indicates that the antibody response against the U 1 snRNP A protein is polyclonal. Antibodies against a discontinuous or conformational epitope were found in most of the sera tested, regardless of whether they were classified as anti-(Ul)RNP, anti-Sm, or anti-(Ul,U2) RNP. These results strongly support the hypothesis that the anti-snRNP autoimmune response is antigen driven.
Spontaneously occumng antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are a prominent feature of many rheumatic diseases. Some of these antibodies show a remarkable disease specificity and arc therefore well-known diag-_ _