title: Novel fragments of the Sjögren's syndrome autoantigens alpha-fodrin and type 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor generated during cytotoxic lymphocyte granule-induced cell death.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the Sjögren's syndrome autoantigens alpha-fodrin and the type 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3R) are cleaved during cytotoxic lymphocyte granule-induced death, to yield novel fragments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary salivary gland epithelial cells, human salivary gland cells, and HeLa cells were incubated with granule contents. The susceptibility to cleavage and the generation of novel fragments of Sjögren's syndrome autoantigens in this form of apoptosis was assessed by immunoblotting. Cleavage of M3R was further characterized by assays performed on the M3R molecule generated by in vitro translation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study demonstrated that alpha-fodrin was uniquely cleaved during cytotoxic lymphocyte granule-induced cell death, generating a 155-kd fragment distinct from those generated by caspase 3 in other forms of apoptosis. The study also demonstrates that M3R (which is restricted in expression to the peripheral autonomic organs) was efficiently cleaved by granzyme B (but not by caspases) at several sites, both in vitro and in intact cells. This is the first description of cleavage of a transmembrane autoantigen by granzyme B.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The observation that both ubiquitously expressed autoantigens (e.g., alpha-fodrin, La, and nuclear mitotic apparatus protein) and tissue-restricted autoantigens (e.g., M3R) targeted in Sjögren's syndrome are specifically cleaved by granzyme B, generating unique fragments, strongly suggests that a common biochemical event (novel autoantigen cleavage during granule-induced epithelial cell death) is responsible for selecting this apparently unconnected group of molecules for a high-titer autoantibody response. The data focus attention on the role of cytotoxic lymphocytes in the initiation and propagation of Sjögren's syndrome.
authors.affiliation: John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagaraju
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Casciola-Rosen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000276:immunology; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000276:immunology*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000276:immunology; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D013049:Spectrin
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D013049:Spectrin