title: Antigenic domains on the human thyroglobulin molecule recognized by autoantibodies in patients' sera and by natural autoantibodies isolated from the sera of healthy subjects.
abstract: We determined the regions on the human thyroglobulin (hTg) molecule recognized by anti-hTg autoantibodies (aAbs) in the sera of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, and thyroid carcinoma and by anti-hTg natural aAbs isolated from the sera of healthy subjects. Fifteen anti-hTg monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against six distinct antigenic regions were used for this study. The anti-hTg aAbs in the patients' sera recognized mainly region II and occasionally region IV. The natural aAbs were present in the serum at low concentrations; consequently, we isolated and concentrated them for this investigation. The isolated natural aAbs inhibited the interaction of the anti-hTg MAbs with the majority of the antigenic regions identified. Region II was not well recognized, however, by these natural aAbs. This difference in specificity between the anti-hTg aAbs and the anti-hTg natural aAbs may have diagnostic significance.
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis*; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000276:immunology*; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D000939:Epitopes; D013954:Thyroglobulin