Identification of a novel autoantigen UACA in patients with panuveitis.
To identify the target autoantigens in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, we made use of an immunoscreening of a bovine uveal cDNA expression library with serum samples obtained from patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. We identified a novel bovine antigen and homologous human autoantigen and designated it as UACA (uveal autoantigen with coiled coil domains and ankyrin repeats). mRNA of human UACA is expressed most abundantly in skeletal muscles and in various human tissues, including choroid, retina, and epidermal melanocytes. IgG autoantibodies were quantitated in an ELISA, using recombinant C-terminal 18.0% fragment of human UACA. The prevalence of IgG anti-UACA autoantibodies in patients with panuveitis (Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, Behçet's disease, sarcoidosis) was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (19.6-28.1% vs 0%, P < 0.05) indicating that autoimmunity directed against UACA is a common phenomenon in these diseases.
Yamada
K
K
Division of Immunogenetics, Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto, Japan.
Senju
S
S
Nakatsura
T
T
Murata
Y
Y
Ishihara
M
M
Nakamura
S
S
Ohno
S
S
Negi
A
A
Nishimura
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002417:Cattle; D002829:Choroid / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015723:Gene Library; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015864:Panuveitis / Q000276:immunology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D001324:Autoantigens; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C422446:UACA antigen; C422505:UACA antigen, bovine; D005982:Glutathione Transferase