Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Anti-tubulin-α-1C autoantibody in systemic lupus erythematosus: a novel indicator of disease activity and vasculitis manifestations

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Clinical Rheumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A variety of autoantibodies has been involved in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), some of which are well known and applied as disease biomarkers. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of a novel autoantibody, anti-tubulin-α-1C, in patients with SLE and investigate its clinical significance. Anti-tubulin-α-1C autoantibody levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 128 SLE patients, 38 primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) patients, and 106 healthy controls (HCs).White blood cell (WBC) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), IgM, IgG, C3, C4, RF, ANA, dsDNA, Sm, AnuA, aCL, anti-SSA, and anti-SSB were measured by standard laboratory techniques. SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) was evaluated accordingly. Anti-tubulin-α-1C antibody levels were significantly increased in SLE patients. Elevated anti-tubulin-α-1C were correlated with higher levels of SLEDAI, increased titers of anti-Sm antibody, and decreased titers of anti-dsDNA antibody and significantly associated with cutaneous and mucosal vasculitis and milder renal involvement. Anti-tubulin-α-1C may become a novel biomarker indicative of active vasculitis in SLE and could be applied in future clinical practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Liu Z, Davidson A (2012) Taming lupus—a new understanding of pathogenesis is leading to clinical advances. Nat Med 18(6):871–882. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2752

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Sherer Y, Gorstein A, Fritzler MJ, Shoenfeld Y (2004) Autoantibody explosion in systemic lupus erythematosus: more than 100 different antibodies found in SLE patients. Semin Arthritis Rheum 34(2):501–537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2004.07.002

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Migliorini P, Baldini C, Rocchi V, Bombardieri S (2005) Anti-Sm and anti-RNP antibodies. Autoimmunity 38(1):47–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/08916930400022715

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. ter Borg EJ, Horst G, Hummel EJ, Limburg PC, Kallenberg CG (1990) Measurement of increases in anti-double-stranded DNA antibody levels as a predictor of disease exacerbation in systemic lupus erythematosus. A long-term, prospective study. Arthritis Rheum 33(5):634–643. https://doi.org/10.1002/art.1780330505

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Popovic K, Brauner S, Ek M, Wahren-Herlenius M, Nyberg F (2007) Fine specificity of the Ro/SSA autoantibody response in relation to serological and clinical findings in 96 patients with self-reported cutaneous symptoms induced by the sun. Lupus 16:10–17

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ibrahim A. Al-Homood(2012) Thrombosis in systemic lupus erythematosus: a review article. ISRNRheumatol 2012: 428269

  7. Doyle M (2006) Vasculitis associated with connective tissue disorders. Curr Rheumatol Rep 8:312–316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Pyrpasopoulou A, Chatzimichailidou S, Aslanadis S (2012) Vascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Autoimmune Dis 2012:876456

  9. Janke C1 (2014) The tubulin code: molecular components, readout mechanisms, and functions. J Cell Biol 206:461–472

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Fagerberg L, Hallström BM, Oksvold P, Kampf C, Djureinovic D et al (2014) Analysis of the human tissue-specific expression by genome-wide integration of transcriptomics and antibody-based proteomics. Mol Cell Proteomics 13(2):397–406

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Trudie A. Goers, Sabarinathan Ramachandran, Aviva Aloush, et al. (2008 )De novo production of K-α1 tubulin specific antibodies: role in chronic lung allograft rejection. J Immunol 180: 4487–4494

  12. Hachema RR, Tiriveedhib V, Pattersonc G et al (2012) Antibodies to K-a 1 tubulin and collagen V are associated with chronic rejection after lung transplantation. Am J Transplant 12(8):2164–2171. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-6143.2012.04079.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Cong Y, Eric Gershwin M, Chang C (2014) Diagnostic criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus: a critical review. J Autoimmun 48–49:10–13

    Google Scholar 

  14. Yung S, Chan TM (2015) Mechanisms of kidney injury in lupus nephritis—the role ofanti-dsDNA antibodies. Front Immunol 6:475

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Avrameas S, Guilbert B, Dighiero G (1981) Natural antibodies against tubulin, actin myoglobin, thyroglobulin, fetuin, albumin and transferrin are present in normal human sera and monoclonal immunoglobulins from multiple myeloma and Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia may express similar antibody specificities. AnnImmunol (Paris) 132C:231–236

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Dighiero G, Guilbert B, Avrameas S (1982) Naturally occurring antibodies against nine common antigens in humans sera. II. High incidence of monoclonal Ig exhibiting antibody activity against actin and tubulin and sharing antibody specificities with natural antibodies. J Immunol 128:2788–2792

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Karsenti E, Guilbert B, Bornens M, Avrameas S (1977) Anti-actin and anti-tubulin antibodies in the serum of non-immunized animals. AnnImmunol (Paris) 128:195–200

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Kurki P, Virtanen I (1984) The detection of human antibodies against cytoskeletal components. J Immunol Methods 67:209–223

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Mead GM, Cowin P, Whitehouse JM (1980) Antitubulin antibody in healthy adults and patients with infectious mononucleosis and its relationship to smooth muscle antibody (SMA). ClinExpImmunol 39:328–336

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Newcombe J, Gahan S, Cuzner ML (1985) Serum antibodies against central nervous system proteins in human demyelinating disease. Clin Exp Immunol 59:383–390

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Rousset B, Bernier-Valentin F, Poncet C, Orgiazzi J, Madec AM, Monier JC, Mornex R (1983) Anti-tubulin antibodies in autoimmune thyroid disorders. Clin Exp Immuno l52:325–332

    Google Scholar 

  22. Newcombe J, Gahan S, Cuzner ML (1985) Serum antibodies against central nervous system proteins in human demyelinating disease. Clin Exp Immunol 59:383–390

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Drenkard C, Villa AR, Reyes E, Abello M, Alarcón-Segovia D (1997) Vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus 6(3):235–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/096120339700600304

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Ramos-Casals M, Nardi N, Lagrutta M et al (2006) Vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus: prevalence and clinical characteristics in 670 patients. Medicine 85:95–104

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. D'Cruz D (1998) Vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus 7:270–274

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Bacon PA, Carruthers DM (1995) Vasculitis associated with connective tissue disorders. Rheum Dis Clin N Am 21:1077–1096

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Praprotnik S, Blank M, Meroni PL et al (2001) Classification of antiendothelial cell antibodies into antibodies against microvascular and macrovascular endothelial cells. Arthritis Rheum 44:1484–1494

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by funding from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81471601 and 81671602), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7152150), and Beijing Nova Program (Z171100001117025).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People’s Hospital, 11 Xizhimen South St, Beijing, 100044, China

    Xiaozhen Zhao, Yuzhou Gan, Rulin Jia, Lei Zhu & Xiaolin Sun

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135), Beijing, China

    Xiaozhen Zhao, Yuzhou Gan, Rulin Jia, Lei Zhu & Xiaolin Sun

  3. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Beijing Hospital, 1 Dahua Road, Beijing, 100730, China

    Yongjing Cheng

Authors
  1. Xiaozhen Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yongjing Cheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuzhou Gan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rulin Jia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lei Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xiaolin Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaolin Sun.

Ethics declarations

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking University People’s Hospital according to the declaration of Helsinki with the following reference number: 2015PHB219-01. All patients had been informed and signed the consent for the participation in this study.

Disclosures

None.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 187 kb).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhao, X., Cheng, Y., Gan, Y. et al. Anti-tubulin-α-1C autoantibody in systemic lupus erythematosus: a novel indicator of disease activity and vasculitis manifestations. Clin Rheumatol 37, 1229–1237 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-018-4024-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-018-4024-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation