Skip Navigation


International Immunology Advance Access originally published online on February 11, 2009
International Immunology 2009 21(4):415-422; doi:10.1093/intimm/dxp008
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/4/415    most recent
dxp008v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Simon, D.
Right arrow Articles by Németh, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Simon, D.
Right arrow Articles by Németh, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Japanese Society for Immunology. 2009. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Naturally occurring and disease-associated auto-antibodies against topoisomerase I: a fine epitope mapping study in systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus

Diána Simon1, Tamás Czömpöly2, Timea Berki2, Tünde Minier1, Attila Peti3, Eszter Tóth2, László Czirják1 and Péter Németh2

1 Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Pécs, Akác u. 1.H-7632 Pécs, Hungary
2 Department of Immunology and Biotechnology, University of Pécs
3 Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Pécs, H-7643 Pécs, Szigeti út 12., Hungary

Correspondence to: P. Németh; E-mail: peter.nemeth{at}aok.pte.hu

Auto-antibodies against topoisomerase I (topo I) are frequently detected in sera of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Anti-topo I auto-antibodies are considered to be associated with the diffuse cutaneous form of systemic sclerosis (dcSSc). However, anti-topo I auto-antibodies are also detected in limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this study, we compared the epitope specificity of anti-topo I auto-antibodies present in sera of dcSSc, lcSSc and SLE patients. We have constructed an antigen fragment library displayed on bacteriophage lambda and screened this library with IgG purified from patients’ sera. Regions of topo I selected from the library were expressed as recombinant fusion proteins and were tested with ELISA and western blot. We unexpectedly found that antibodies against a fragment of topo I {fragment F4 [amino acid (AA)] 451–593} could be detected in sera of healthy individuals and patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases other than SSc and SLE. Using sera of dcSSc, lcSSc and SLE patients, we showed that the pattern of recognized epitopes is different between these patient groups. Fragment F4 was recognized by all patients. Fragment F1 (AA 5–30) was recognized by 9 of 34 dcSSc patients. Fragment F8 (AA 350–400) was recognized by four of eight SLE patients. Analysis of clinical data revealed a significant difference between the F1-negative and F1-positive groups of SSc patients in age and in the duration of the disease. According to our results, the newly identified fragments F1 and F8 could represent characteristic epitopes for dcSSc and SLE, respectively.

Keywords: naturally occurring auto-antibodies, phage display, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, topoisomerase I

Transmitting editor: A. Falus

Received 19 December 2008, accepted 19 January 2009.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.