Systemic lupus erythematosus patients with central nervous system involvement show autoantibodies to a 50-kD neuronal membrane protein.
An antibody was detected in the sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and central nervous system (CNS) involvement that reacted with a 50-kD antigen in the plasma membrane of brain synaptic terminals. The 50-kD antigen was solubilized with Triton X-100 from preparations enriched with synaptic plasma membranes, and was partially purified by molecular sieve filtration column chromatography. The sera of 19 of 20 CNS-SLE patients showed strong to moderate immunoreactivity with the 50-kD protein in Western blots. Immunoreactivity with the 50-kD protein was also detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of CNS-SLE patients. Control sera from healthy individuals did not react with the 50-kD protein. Low to background reactivity was detected in 35% of a group of SLE patients without CNS manifestations, and in 3% of patients displaying other connective tissue diseases. A total of 100 individuals were tested in this study. Purified autoantibodies to the 50-kD protein from CNS-SLE patients were used for immunofluorescent labeling of neuroblastoma cells. The immunofluorescent staining revealed a distinct macular distribution pattern on the surface of the cell membrane. Taken together, the data suggest that the 50-kD protein may be an important target for autoantibodies, preponderantly found in CNS-SLE patients, and that the antigen may play a role in the pathogenesis of some neurological manifestations in SLE.
Hanson
V G
VG
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Horowitz
M
M
Rosenbluth
D
D
Spiera
H
H
Puszkin
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002417:Cattle; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000276:immunology*; D013570:Synaptic Membranes / Q000276:immunology
D001323:Autoantibodies; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins