New autoantibodies in early rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

IntroductionRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory joint disease causing articular cartilage and bone destruction. Since irreversible joint destruction can be prevented by intervention at the early stages of disease, early diagnosis of RA is important. In this study, we identified new autoantibodies in the sera of patients with early (less than one year) RA.MethodsWe screened the sera of 20 RA patients with disease duration less than one year, 19 RA patients with disease duration more than five years and 23 controls on 8,268 human protein arrays. We confirmed the validity of protein array detection by ELISA assays. We then performed epitope mapping with overlapping 15-mers to analyze RA sera reactivity.ResultsWIBG (within BGCN homolog (Drosophila)), GABARAPL2 (GABA(A) receptor associated protein like 2) and ZNF706 (zinc finger protein 706) proteins are preferentially recognized by autoantibodies from early RA patients. Of interest, autoantibodies to WIBG are very specific for early RA. Indeed, 33% of early RA patients' sera recognize WIBG versus 5% of RA patients with disease duration more than 5 years and 2% of controls. We identified three linear peptides on WIBG GABARAPL2 and ZNF706 that are preferentially recognized by sera of early RA patients.ConclusionsWe identified new autoantibodies associated with RA with disease duration less than one year. These autoantibodies could be used as diagnosis markers in RA patients.

Autoantibody Profiles in Collagen Disease Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD): Antibodies to Major Histocompatibility Complex Class l-Related Chain a (MICA) as Markers of ILD

“…Thus, conformational epitopes of anti-MICA Abs in the sera of the patients were detected in this study. Other auto-Abs than rheumatoid factors or anti-citrullinated peptide Abs were frequently detected in sera of RA patients, 27 as anti-MICA Abs were found in this study. The role of these auto-Abs still remains unknown and needs to be revealed.…”

Diagnostic Potential of Zinc Finger Protein-Specific Autoantibodies and Associated Linear B-Cell Epitopes in Colorectal Cancer

“…A more recent study further confirmed our discovery of ZNF346 autoantibodies when sera of renal cancer patients were analysed [ 23 ]. Autoantibodies to other zinc finger proteins were also frequently detected in cancer [ 24 ] and autoimmune disease [ 25 – 27 ]; however, there is a paucity of literature on autoantibodies specific to zinc finger proteins ZNF700 and ZNF768. Since the presence of autoantibodies is not unique to colorectal cancer, further studies with other cancer types need to be conducted to show whether the panel of four ZNF proteins presented it this study is specific for colorectal cancer detection, or cancer detection in general.…”

Sequential high-content profiling of the IgG-autoantibody repertoire reveals novel antigens in rheumatoid arthritis

“…RA pathogenesis features numerous autoimmune processes such as autoreactive T cells and the formation of autoantibodies [ 1 ]. Amongst the autoantibodies present in RA sera, rheumatoid factor (RF) and antibodies against citrullinated peptides (ACPA) have emerged as important diagnostic and prognostic markers [ 2 ], although a range of other autoantibodies have been identified [ 3 ]. Evidence is accumulating that RF and ACPA are directly involved in the pathogenesis of the disease [ 4 ], potentially even prior to the occurrence of synovial inflammation [ 5 ].…”