1. Immune tolerance induction with multiepitope peptide derived from citrullinated autoantigens attenuates arthritis manifestations in adjuvant arthritis rats
- Author
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Howard Amital, Yehuda Shoenfeld, Smadar Gertel, Guy Serre, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University [Tel Aviv], Unité différenciation épidermique et auto-immunité rhumatoïde (UDEAR), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), CARBILLET, Véronique, and Tel Aviv University (TAU)
- Subjects
Arthritis ,MESH: Autoantigens / immunology ,Apoptosis ,Filaggrin Proteins ,Autoantigens ,Severity of Illness Index ,T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ,Immune tolerance ,Arthritis, Rheumatoid ,Epitopes ,0302 clinical medicine ,MESH: Arthritis, Rheumatoid / immunology ,MESH: Citrulline / metabolism ,[SDV.MHEP.MI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Infectious diseases ,T-Lymphocyte Subsets ,MESH: Arthritis, Rheumatoid / pathology ,Immunology and Allergy ,MESH: Animals ,MESH: T-Lymphocyte Subsets / metabolism ,0303 health sciences ,MESH: Epitopes / metabolism ,3. Good health ,Tolerance induction ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Phenotype ,MESH: Peptides / administration & dosage ,MESH: Epitopes / immunology ,Rheumatoid arthritis ,MESH: T-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology ,[SDV.MHEP.MI] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Infectious diseases ,Female ,Filaggrin ,MESH: Immune Tolerance ,MESH: Immunophenotyping ,MESH: Rats ,Regulatory T cell ,MESH: T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / metabolism ,T cell ,Immunology ,MESH: Autoantibodies / immunology ,MESH: Peptides / immunology ,MESH: Phenotype ,MESH: Autoantigens / metabolism ,MESH: Apoptosis / immunology ,Immunophenotyping ,03 medical and health sciences ,MESH: Severity of Illness Index ,medicine ,Immune Tolerance ,Animals ,030304 developmental biology ,Autoantibodies ,030203 arthritis & rheumatology ,MESH: Arthritis, Experimental / immunology ,business.industry ,Autoantibody ,medicine.disease ,Arthritis, Experimental ,Rats ,MESH: T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology ,Disease Models, Animal ,MESH: Peptides / metabolism ,MESH: Epitopes / administration & dosage ,MESH: Arthritis, Experimental / pathology ,Citrulline ,MESH: Disease Models, Animal ,business ,Peptides ,MESH: Female - Abstract
Citrullinated peptides are major targets of disease-specific autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis. Currently, citrullinated peptides are used as biomarkers for diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis by measuring anti-citrullinated protein Ab (ACPA) titers in patients’ sera. The accumulation of citrullinated proteins at synovial inflammation sites suggests that they are possible targets for tolerance induction. The objective of the present study was to determine whether citrullinated peptides could induce tolerance in an experimental arthritis model in rats. In view of the multiplicity of target citrullinated autoantigens described for ACPA, we generated a multiepitope citrullinated peptide (Cit-ME), derived from major prevalent citrullinated autoantigens (citrullinated filaggrin, fibrinogen, vimentin, and collagen type II), and studied its effects on arthritic rats. Adjuvant-induced arthritis was induced in Lewis rats. Beginning at day 7 after disease induction, the rats received eight s.c. injections of Cit-ME on alternate days. Differences in clinical status and modulation of T cell populations were analyzed. In adjuvant-induced arthritis rats treated with Cit-ME, disease severity was significantly reduced compared with that of untreated rats. Moreover, amelioration of disease manifestations was related to an increased regulatory T cell subset and an elevated apoptosis rate of T cells associated with reduced Th17 cells. Thus, the use of citrullinated peptides–based immunotherapy may be a promising approach for tolerance induction in experimental arthritis and perhaps even in susceptible individuals that are ACPA-seropositive in human arthritis.
- Published
- 2014