Mapping of citrullinated fibrinogen B-cell epitopes in rheumatoid arthritis by imaging surface plasmon resonance.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) frequently involves the loss of tolerance to citrullinated antigens, which may play a role in pathogenicity. Citrullinated fibrinogen is commonly found in inflamed synovial tissue and is a frequent target of autoantibodies in RA patients. To obtain insight into the B-cell response to citrullinated fibrinogen in RA, its autoepitopes were systematically mapped using a new methodology.

Methods

Human fibrinogen was citrullinated in vitro by peptidylarginine deiminases (PAD), subjected to proteolysis and the resulting peptides were fractionated by ion exchange chromatography. The peptide composition of the citrullinated peptide-containing fractions was determined by high resolution tandem mass spectrometry. The recognition of these fractions

SUBMITTER: van Beers JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3046532 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature