Identification of heat shock protein 27 as a novel autoantigen of Behçet's disease.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to identify candidate pathogenic autoantigens of Behçet's disease (BD) in pathogen-stimulated target cells.


METHODS
First, three cell lines were used as target cells to screen autoantibody. Second, selected target cells were simulated with pathogens. Third, western blotting was used for detecting the auto-antigens in cell extracts. Next, immunoprecipitation was performed and the amino-acid sequences of target antigens were analyzed by LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF. Then, the potential target antigen was expressed, purified, and immunologically confirmed. And finally, an ELISA kit was developed and clinically validated through the assessments of 456 clinical samples with BD.


RESULTS
One antigen with a molecular weight of approximately 27-kDa was identified as heat shock protein 27 (HSP27). The reactivity of serum IgG against recombinant human HSP27 was detected in 52 of 91 BD patients (57%), 66 of 92 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (72%), 32 of 90 Sjogren syndrome (SS) patients (36%), 22 of 92 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients (24%) and 0 of 91 healthy controls (HC). The reactivity of BD serum IgG antibodies against HSP27 was significantly higher than SLE (P<0.0001) SS (P<0.0001) and HC (P<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study identified HSP27 as a candidate endothelial cell autoantigen of BD, which is interesting and probably worth further exploration.
['Chen|Peng|P|', 'Shi|Lili|L|', 'Jiang|Yun|Y|', 'Ji|Yuting|Y|', 'Yan|Hai|H|', 'Sun|Shutao|S|', 'Xun|Yiping|Y|', 'Chen|Guangyu|G|', 'Wang|Xiaoxu|X|', 'Chen|Weiyang|W|', 'Du|Hongwu|H|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000595:Amino Acid Sequence D001323:Autoantibodies D001324:Autoantigens D001528:Behcet Syndrome D005260:Female D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D018832:Molecular Chaperones D008969:Molecular Sequence Data D010455:Peptides D015203:Reproducibility of Results D055815:Young Adult
Autoantigen HSP27 Behçet’s disease