title: Brain-reactive autoantibody levels in the sera of ageing autoimmune mice.
abstract: Brain-reactive autoantibodies are thought to play an important role in mediating central nervous system (CNS) disorders in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this paper the developmental occurrence of these antibodies in the sera of autoimmune mice, i.e. NZB, NZB/W, MRL/l and BXSB mice were examined. All murine strains tested, whether autoimmune or not, showed some degree of serum reactivity toward brain antigens. Autoimmune mice, however, displayed higher levels of serum brain-reactive antibodies, and at earlier ages, than non-autoimmune mice. Immunofluorescence assays against brain sections and adsorption assays, with both neural and non-neural tissue, indicated a heterogeneity in the specificity of the populations of brain-reactive antibodies present. These studies provide an important step in characterizing the appearance and diversity of brain-reactive autoantibodies, with the goal of better understanding their significance and potential role in mediating CNS dysfunction in SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Arbogast
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Shucard
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Harbeck
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D001921:Brain / Q000276:immunology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008814:Mice, Inbred NZB; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies