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The presence of persistent intrathecal oligoclonal immunoglobulin G (IgG) bands (OCBs) and lesional IgG deposition are seminal features of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease pathology. Despite extensive investigations, the role of antibodies, the products of mature CD19+ B cells, in disease development is still controversial and under significant debate. Recent success of B cell depletion therapies has revealed that CD20+ B cells contribute to MS pathogenesis via both antigen-presentation and T-cell-regulation. However, the limited efficacy of CD20+ B cell depletion therapies for the treatment of progressive MS indicates that additional mechanisms are involved. In this review, we present findings suggesting a potential pathological role for increased intrathecal IgGs, the relation of circulating antibodies to intrathecal IgGs, and the selective elevation of IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses in MS. We propose a working hypothesis that circulating B cells and antibodies contribute significantly to intrathecal IgGs, thereby exerting primary and pathogenic effects in MS development. Increased levels of IgG1 and IgG3 antibodies induce potent antibody-mediated cytotoxicity to central nervous system (CNS) cells and/or reduce the threshold required for antigen-driven antibody clustering leading to optimal activation of immune responses. Direct proof of the pathogenic roles of antibodies in MS may provide opportunities for novel blood biomarker identification as well as strategies for the development of effective therapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IgG oligoclonal bands (OCBs) are present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of more than 95% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and are considered to be the immunological hallmark of disease. However, the target specificities of the IgG in MS OCBs have remained undiscovered. Nevertheless, evidence that OCBs are associated with increased levels of disease activity and disability support their probable pathological role in MS. We investigated the antigen specificity of individual MS CSF IgG from 20 OCB-positive patients and identified 40 unique peptides by panning phage-displayed random peptide libraries. Utilizing our unique techniques of phage-mediated real-time Immuno-PCR and phage-probed isoelectric focusing immunoblots, we demonstrated that these peptides were targeted by intrathecal oligoclonal IgG antibodies of IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses. In addition, we showed that these peptides represent epitopes sharing sequence homologies with proteins of viral origin, and proteins involved in cell stress, apoptosis, and inflammatory processes. Although homologous peptides were found within individual patients, no shared peptide sequences were found among any of the 42 MS and 13 inflammatory CSF control specimens. The distinct sets of oligoclonal IgG-reactive peptides identified by individual MS CSF suggest that the elevated intrathecal antibodies may target patient-specific antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disorder of unknown etiology, possibly caused by a virus or virus-triggered immunopathology. The virus might reactivate after years of latency and lyse oligodendrocytes, as in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or initiate immunopathological demyelination, as in animals infected with Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus or coronaviruses. The argument for a viral cause of MS is supported by epidemiological analyses and studies of MS in identical twins, indicating that disease is acquired. However, the most important evidence is the presence of bands of oligoclonal IgG (OCBs) in MS brain and CSF that persist throughout the lifetime of the patient. OCBs are found almost exclusively in infectious CNS disorders, and antigenic targets of OCBs represent the agent that causes disease. Here, the authors review past attempts to identify an infectious agent in MS brain cells and discuss the promise of using recombinant antibodies generated from clonally expanded plasma cells in brain and CSF to identify disease-relevant antigens. They show how this strategy has been used successfully to analyze antigen specificity in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a chronic encephalitis caused by measles virus, and in neuromyelitis optica, a chronic autoimmune demyelinating disease produced by antibodies directed against the aquaporin-4 water channel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Phage-displayed random peptide libraries, in which high affinity phage peptides are enriched by repetitive selection (panning) on target antibody, provide a unique tool for identifying antigen specificity. This paper describes a new panning method that enables selection of peptides in 1 day as compared to about 6 days required in traditional panning to identify virus-specific epitopes. The method, termed ultra-fast selection of peptide (UFSP), utilizes phage produced by bacterial infection (phage amplification) directly for subsequent panning. Phage amplified in less than 1h of infection in Escherichia coli are used for binding to target antibody pre-coated in the same wells of an ELISA plate, obviating the need for traditional large-scale amplification and purification. Importantly, phage elution at 37°C was superior to that at room temperature, and phage amplification in a 150-μl volume of E. coli cells was superior to that in 250-μl volume. Application of UFSP to two monoclonal antibodies generated from clonally expanded plasma cells in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) brain identified high-affinity measles virus-specific-peptide epitopes. The UFSP panning methodology will expedite identification of peptides reacting with antibodies generated in other diseases of unknown antigenic specificity such as multiple sclerosis (MS), sarcoidosis and Behcet''s disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Real-time immuno-PCR (RT-IPCR) is a powerful technique that combines ELISA with the specificity and sensitivity of PCR. RT-IPCR of phage-displayed peptides exploits the unique physical associations between phenotype (the displayed peptide) and genotype (the encoding DNA) within the same phage particle. Previously, we identified phage peptides specific for recombinant antibodies (rAbs) prepared from clonally expanded plasma cells in multiple sclerosis (MS) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) brain. Herein, we applied phage-mediated RT-IPCR to study reactivity of these specific phage peptides for the rAbs. Compared to standard ELISA, which required greater than 104 or 105 phage particles to detect binding to rAbs, RT-IPCR detected binding with as few as 100 phage particles. RT-IPCR was also superior to ELISA in determining relative affinities of rAbs for phage peptides and was effective in screening MS CSF for IgG reactivity to phage peptides. Phage-mediated RT-IPCR is a rapid, high-throughput technology that avoids the requirement for synthetic peptides and will facilitate the identification of candidate peptides that react with the IgG in MS CSF. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Phage-displayed random peptide libraries are important tools in identifying novel epitopes/mimotopes that may lead to the determination of antigen specificity. In this approach, high-affinity phage peptides are enriched by affinity selection (panning) on a monoclonal antibody. To facilitate identification of all potential phage peptides specific for recombinant monoclonal antibodies (rAbs) previously generated from clonally expanded plasma cells from the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), we developed a high-throughput method to determine phage specificity. In contrast to the 8–9 days needed in the standard large-scale method of amplifying phage clones for ELISA, the high-throughput method takes only 1 day. ELISA using phage clones amplified directly in 96-well plates avoids large-scale phage purification and enables rapid identification of specific epitopes/mimotopes. This technique will expedite identification of MS-specific peptides that can be used to discover the corresponding protein antigens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Bovine rotavirus (BRV) is one of main pathogens responsible for diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. In this study, we developed a colloidal gold immunochromatographic test strip for detecting BRV according to the principle of double-antibody sandwich. The monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) were prepared and purified. On the strip, the purified mAbs labeled with the colloidal gold were used as the detector, and the goat anti-mouse antibodies and purified pAbs were coated on the nitrocellulose membranes as the control line and the test line, respectively. We optimized different reaction conditions, including the amount of mAbs, the pH of colloidal gold solution, coating solution, blocking solution, sample pad treatment solution, antibody concentration in control line, and antibody concentration in detection line. In specificity assay, the strip had high specificity in detecting BRV. No cross-reaction was observed in detecting other viruses. The detection sensitivity of the strip was found to be 1 × 103 TCID50/0.1 mL. Two hundred twenty clinical samples were detected with the strip compared to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. No false-negative or false-positive results were found, and the results obtained by the two methods were similar. In conclusion, we developed a novel immunochromatographic strip to rapidly detect BRV. The strip developed exhibited high sensitivity and specificity for BRV detection. It could be a rapid, convenient, and effective method for the rapid diagnosis of BRV infection in the fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis of B cell subtypes in 17 CSF samples from 15 patients with clinically-definite MS revealed that CD19+ B cells accounted for 2 to 11% (mean 5%) and CD138+ cells constituted 0 to 5% (mean 2%) of total CSF lymphocytes. Further stratification of CD138+ cells based on expression levels of CD19 showed that CD138+19+ plasma blasts constituted 89±2% (mean±SE) of the CD138+ cell population (P <0.00001), with more mature plasma cells (CD138+19−) constituting the remaining 11±2%. Sequence analysis of immunoglobulin variable regions in single CD138+19+ and CD138+19− cells sorted from MS CSF identified many of the same clonal populations in both populations, indicating a continuum of clonally related plasma cell subtypes of which CD138+19+ plasma blasts are most abundant. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]