Immune Reaction to Type XVII Collagen Induces Intramolecular and Intermolecular Epitope Spreading in Experimental Bullous Pemphigoid Models.

ABSTRACT: Bullous pemphigoid (BP), the most common autoimmune blistering disease, is induced by autoantibodies to type XVII collagen (COL17). Previous studies demonstrated that COL17 harbors several epitopes targeted by autoreactive T and B cells and that the target epitopes change sequentially during the disease course. To elucidate the details of the humoral immune response to COL17, we used an active BP mouse model in which BP is induced by the adoptive transfer of spleen cells from wild-type mice immunized with human COL17-expressing skin grafting to immunodeficient COL17-humanized (Rag-2^-/-, mouse Col17^-/-, human COL17⁺) mice. By immunoblot analysis, antibodies to the NC16A domain and other extracellular domains (ECDs) of COL17 were detected earlier than antibod

SUBMITTER: Ujiie H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6593113 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature