1. Flow Cytofluorimetric Analysis of Anti-LRP4 (LDL Receptor-Related Protein 4) Autoantibodies in Italian Patients with Myasthenia Gravis
- Author
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Mariapaola Marino, Giovanni Antonini, Mario Sabatelli, Giovambattista Pani, Flavia Scuderi, Amelia Evoli, Maria Teresa Maiuri, Chengyong Shen, Lin Mei, Emanuela Bartoccioni, Daniela Maria Samengo, and Giorgia Saltelli
- Subjects
Male ,lcsh:Medicine ,receptors ,Settore MED/05 - PATOLOGIA CLINICA ,cholinergic ,Receptors, Cholinergic ,lcsh:Science ,education.field_of_study ,Multidisciplinary ,Agrin ,biology ,genetics and molecular biology (all) ,agricultural and biological sciences (all) ,autoimmunity ,Middle Aged ,Flow Cytometry ,Settore MED/26 - NEUROLOGIA ,autoantibodies ,case-control studies ,female ,flow cytometry ,hek293 cells ,humans ,immunoblotting ,immunoprecipitation ,ldl-receptor related proteins ,male ,middle aged ,myasthenia gravis ,receptor protein-tyrosine kinases ,receptors, cholinergic ,biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (all) ,Female ,Antibody ,Research Article ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Population ,Immunoblotting ,Antigen ,Internal medicine ,Myasthenia Gravis ,medicine ,biochemistry ,Humans ,Immunoprecipitation ,education ,LDL-Receptor Related Proteins ,Acetylcholine receptor ,Autoantibodies ,Autoimmune disease ,business.industry ,lcsh:R ,Autoantibody ,Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ,medicine.disease ,Myasthenia gravis ,Endocrinology ,HEK293 Cells ,Case-Control Studies ,Immunology ,biology.protein ,lcsh:Q ,business ,autoantibody - Abstract
Background Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease in which 90% of patients have autoantibodies against the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR), while autoantibodies to muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) have been detected in half (5%) of the remaining 10%. Recently, the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 4 (LRP4), identified as the agrin receptor, has been recognized as a third autoimmune target in a significant portion of the double sero-negative (dSN) myasthenic individuals, with variable frequency depending on different methods and origin countries of the tested population. There is also convincing experimental evidence that anti-LRP4 autoantibodies may cause MG. Methods The aim of this study was to test the presence and diagnostic significance of anti-LRP4 autoantibodies in an Italian population of 101 myasthenic patients (55 dSN, 23 AChR positive and 23 MuSK positive), 45 healthy blood donors and 40 patients with other neurological diseases as controls. All sera were analyzed by a cell-based antigen assay employing LRP4-transfected HEK293T cells, along with a flow cytofluorimetric detection system. Results We found a 14.5% (8/55) frequency of positivity in the dSN-MG group and a 13% frequency of co-occurrence (3/23) in both AChR and MuSK positive patients; moreover, we report a younger female prevalence with a mild form of disease in LRP4-positive dSN-MG individuals. Conclusion Our data confirm LRP4 as a new autoimmune target, supporting the value of including anti-LRP4 antibodies in further studies on Myasthenia gravis.
- Published
- 2015