title: Identification of candidate microbial sequences from inflammatory lesion of giant cell arteritis.
abstract: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a granulomatous inflammatory disease of medium and large arteries which is prevalent in the elderly population. The etiology of GCA is unknown, although the immunologic features suggest the possible presence of a microorganism. Our group has examined whether microbial DNA fragments were present at GCA lesions and whether such microbial fragments could be associated with disease pathogenesis. Initial identification of microbial sequences was performed using genomic representational difference analysis (RDA). Laser dissecting microscopy was used to isolate cells from GCA lesions and adjacent uninvolved temporal artery. Using genomic RDA, we isolated 10 gene fragments; three of these sequences had high homology with prokaryotic genes and were considered high-priority candidates for further study. An examination of serum from GCA(+) individuals (in contrast to healthy age-matched controls) showed the presence of IgG which recognized in vitro translated proteins from these clones.
authors.affiliation: Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine and the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1732, USA.
authors.forename: Lynn K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Hallie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sandusky
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ziv
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goodglick
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goodglick
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000382:microbiology*; D007834:Lasers; D042282:Microdissection; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial