An antibody was detected in the sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and central nervous system (CNS) involvement that reacted with a 50-kD antigen in the plasma membrane of brain synaptic terminals. The 50-kD antigen was solubilized with Triton X-100 from preparations enriched with synaptic plasma membranes, and was partially purified by molecular sieve filtration column chromatography. The sera of 19 of 20 CNS-SLE patients showed strong to moderate immunoreactivity with the 50-kD protein in Western blots. Immunoreactivity with the 50-kD protein was also detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of CNS-SLE patients. Control sera from healthy individuals did not react with the 50-kD protein. Low to background reactivity was detected in 35% of a group of SLE patients without CNS manifestations, and in 3% of patients displaying other connective tissue diseases. A total of 100 individuals were tested in this study. Purified autoantibodies to the 50-kD protein from CNS-SLE patients were used for immunofluorescent labeling of neuroblastoma cells. The immunofluorescent staining revealed a distinct macular distribution pattern on the surface of the cell membrane. Taken together, the data suggest that the 50-kD protein may be an important target for autoantibodies, preponderantly found in CNS-SLE patients, and that the antigen may play a role in the pathogenesis of some neurological manifestations in SLE.
Article|
August 01 1992
Systemic lupus erythematosus patients with central nervous system involvement show autoantibodies to a 50-kD neuronal membrane protein.
V G Hanson,
V G Hanson
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Search for other works by this author on:
M Horowitz,
M Horowitz
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Search for other works by this author on:
D Rosenbluth,
D Rosenbluth
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Search for other works by this author on:
H Spiera,
H Spiera
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Search for other works by this author on:
S Puszkin
S Puszkin
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Search for other works by this author on:
V G Hanson
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
M Horowitz
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
D Rosenbluth
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
H Spiera
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
S Puszkin
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029.
Online ISSN: 1540-9538
Print ISSN: 0022-1007
J Exp Med (1992) 176 (2): 565–573.
Citation
V G Hanson, M Horowitz, D Rosenbluth, H Spiera, S Puszkin; Systemic lupus erythematosus patients with central nervous system involvement show autoantibodies to a 50-kD neuronal membrane protein.. J Exp Med 1 August 1992; 176 (2): 565–573. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.176.2.565
Download citation file: