title: Antibody reactivity to alpha-enolase in mothers of children with congenital heart block.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the frequency of anti-alpha-enolase antibodies in the sera of mothers whose children have congenital heart block (CHB), given provocative results in which alpha-enolase, a membrane protein, was recognized by monoclonal antibodies reactive with the peptide p200 of 52 kDa Ro/SSA in a neonatal rat heart library.
  
  
  METHODS
  An ELISA using a recombinant alpha-enolase protein was developed. Sera from 100 anti-Ro52+ CHB mothers in the Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus, 50 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; 7 anti-Ro52+), and 48 healthy controls were tested for anti-alpha-enolase reactivity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in the median values obtained from CHB mothers, patients with SLE, or controls at each of the dilutions tested. Only 7 (7%) at 1:100 dilution and 2 (2%) at 1:1000 dilution of 100 CHB sera were 3 standard deviations above the mean value obtained for controls. Preincubation with recombinant Ro52 did not inhibit anti-alpha-enolase reactivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low frequency of anti-alpha-enolase antibodies in the sera of CHB mothers and the absence of apparent cross-reactivity with Ro52 suggest that antibodies to Ro52 are not likely to mediate CHB via binding to alpha-enolase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Llanos
authors.forename: Edward K L
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Songqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Grant X
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Abadal
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Izmirly
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Clancy
authors.forename: Jill P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Buyon
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006327:Heart Block / Q000151:congenital* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase