Yibo He, Changrong Ge, Àlex Moreno-Giró, Bingze Xu, Christian M Beusch, Katalin Sandor, Jie Su, Lei Cheng, Erik Lönnblom, Christina Lundqvist, Linda M Slot, Dongmei Tong, Vilma Urbonaviciute, Bibo Liang, Taotao Li, Gonzalo Fernandez Lahore, Mike Aoun, Vivianne Malmström, Theo Rispens, Patrik Ernfors, Camilla I Svensson, Hans Ulrich Scherer, René E M Toes, Inger Gjertsson, Olov Ekwall, Roman A Zubarev, Rikard Holmdahl
Although elevated levels of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) are a hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the in vivo functions of these antibodies remain unclear. Here, we have expressed monoclonal ACPAs derived from patients with RA, and analyzed their functions in mice, as well as their specificities. None of the ACPAs showed arthritogenicity nor induced pain-associated behavior in mice. However, one of the antibodies, clone E4, protected mice from antibody-induced arthritis. E4 showed a binding pattern restricted to skin, macrophages and dendritic cells in lymphoid tissue, and cartilage derived from mouse and human arthritic joints...
February 8, 2023: Nature Communications