title: To look for a needle in a haystack: the search for autoantibodies in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: The search for autoantibodies in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been challenging for the last 3 decades. With the development of new proteomic methods and advances in expression and assay technologies, progress in the identification of MS autoantibodies has been made. A number of MS-specific autoantibodies have been proposed, most of them targeting proteins expressed in oligodendrocytes and along the myelin sheath. In this review, we summarize the status of antibody research in MS and then discuss recent developments and future strategies in defining and characterizing the potential antigenic targets of autoantibodies in MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schirmer
authors.forename: Rajneesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hemmer
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D040901:Proteomics
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies
keywords: Autoantibodies; multiple sclerosis; pathology; proteomics; review