Università della Svizzera italiana

Monoclonal IgG antibodies generated from joint-derived B cells of RA patients have a strong bias toward citrullinated autoantigen recognition

Amara, Khaled ; Steen, Johanna ; Murray, Fiona ; Morbach, Henner ; Fernandez-Rodriguez, Blanca M. ; Joshua, Vijay ; Engström, Marianne ; Snir, Omri ; Israelsson, Lena ; Catrina, Anca I. ; Wardemann, Hedda ; Corti, Davide ; Meffre, Eric ; Klareskog, Lars ; Malmström, Vivianne

In: The journal of experimental medicine, 2013, vol. 210, no. 3, p. 445-455

Antibodies targeting citrullinated proteins (ACPAs [anticitrullinated protein antibodies]) are commonly found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), strongly associate with distinct HLA-DR alleles, and predict a more aggressive disease course as compared with seronegative patients. Still, many features of these antibodies, including their site of production and the extent of MHC class...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Homeostatic expansion of autoreactive immunoglobulin-secreting cells in the Rag2 mouse model of Omenn syndrome

Cassani, Barbara ; Poliani, Pietro Luigi ; Marrella, Veronica ; Schena, Francesca ; Sauer, Aisha V. ; Ravanini, Maria ; Strina, Dario ; Busse, Christian E. ; Regenass, Stephan ; Wardemann, Hedda ; Martini, Alberto ; Facchetti, Fabio ; Burg, Mirjam van der ; Rolink, Antonius G. ; Vezzoni, Paolo ; Grassi, Fabio ; Traggiai, Elisabetta ; Villa, Anna

In: Journal of experimental medicine, 2010, vol. 207, no. 7, p. 1525-1540

Hypomorphic RAG mutations, leading to limited V(D)J rearrangements, cause Omenn syndrome (OS), a peculiar severe combined immunodeficiency associated with autoimmune-like manifestations. Whether B cells play a role in OS pathogenesis is so far unexplored. Here we report the detection of plasma cells in lymphoid organs of OS patients, in which circulating B cells are undetectable. Hypomorphic...