Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1994 Mar;95(3):385–389. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1994.tb07008.x

Anti-5S RNA/protein (RNP) antibody levels correlate with disease activity in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis.

A Guialis 1, M Patrinou-Georgoula 1, N Tsifetaki 1, V Aidinis 1, C E Sekeris 1, H M Moutsopoulos 1
PMCID: PMC1535070  PMID: 8137536

Abstract

A patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and nephritis without antibodies to dsDNA but with antibodies to a 5S RNA/protein (RNP) complex is presented. Combined RNA precipitation and Western blotting experiments strongly suggested that these newly identified autoantibodies recognized a distinct epitope on the L5 ribosomal protein of the L5/5S RNP complex first described by Steitz et al. [1]. Quantification of the anti-5S RNP antibody levels was done by hybridizing Northern blots of immunoprecipitated RNA from serial serum samples with a 32P-labelled oligoprobe specific for the 5S ribosomal RNA. These studies revealed a strong association between anti-5S RNP autoantibody titre and severity of SLE nephritis over a 3-year prospective study. Our results indicate that the L5/5S RNP can be a target of autoimmune response, and and may serve, in some cases, as marker of SLE severity and response to therapy.

Full text

PDF
386

Images in this article

386Fig. 1
on p.386
387Fig. 2
on p.387

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Absi M., La Vergne J. P., Marzouki A., Giraud F., Rigal D., Reboud A. M., Reboud J. P., Monier J. C. Heterogeneity of ribosomal autoantibodies from human, murine and canine connective tissue diseases. Immunol Lett. 1989 Nov;23(1):35–41. doi: 10.1016/0165-2478(89)90152-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cazillis M., Houssais J. F. The polysomal proteins of L cells. Discrimination between the structural ribosomal proteins, the exchangeable ribosomal proteins and the non-ribosomal proteins by two-dimensional dodecylsulfate electrophoresis and autoradiography. Eur J Biochem. 1979 Jan 2;93(1):23–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1979.tb12790.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Craft J., Mimori T., Olsen T. L., Hardin J. A. The U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle as an autoantigen. Analysis with sera from patients with overlap syndromes. J Clin Invest. 1988 Jun;81(6):1716–1724. doi: 10.1172/JCI113511. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Elkon K. B., Bonfa E., Llovet R., Eisenberg R. A. Association between anti-Sm and anti-ribosomal P protein autoantibodies in human systemic lupus erythematosus and MRL/lpr mice. J Immunol. 1989 Sep 1;143(5):1549–1554. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Elkon K. B., Parnassa A. P., Foster C. L. Lupus autoantibodies target ribosomal P proteins. J Exp Med. 1985 Aug 1;162(2):459–471. doi: 10.1084/jem.162.2.459. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fritz A., Parisot R., Newmeyer D., De Robertis E. M. Small nuclear U-ribonucleoproteins in Xenopus laevis development. Uncoupled accumulation of the protein and RNA components. J Mol Biol. 1984 Sep 15;178(2):273–285. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(84)90144-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hardin J. A., Rahn D. R., Shen C., Lerner M. R., Wolin S. L., Rosa M. D., Steitz J. A. Antibodies from patients with connective tissue diseases bind specific subsets of cellular RNA-protein particles. J Clin Invest. 1982 Jul;70(1):141–147. doi: 10.1172/JCI110587. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hoet R. M., Koornneef I., de Rooij D. J., van de Putte L. B., van Venrooij W. J. Changes in anti-U1 RNA antibody levels correlate with disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus overlap syndrome. Arthritis Rheum. 1992 Oct;35(10):1202–1210. doi: 10.1002/art.1780351013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Krol A., Gallinaro H., Lazar E., Jacob M., Branlant C. The nuclear 5S RNAs from chicken, rat and man. U5 RNAs are encoded by multiple genes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Feb 25;9(4):769–787. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.4.769. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lerner E. A., Lerner M. R., Janeway C. A., Jr, Steitz J. A. Monoclonal antibodies to nucleic acid-containing cellular constituents: probes for molecular biology and autoimmune disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 May;78(5):2737–2741. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.5.2737. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lerner M. R., Boyle J. A., Hardin J. A., Steitz J. A. Two novel classes of small ribonucleoproteins detected by antibodies associated with lupus erythematosus. Science. 1981 Jan 23;211(4480):400–402. doi: 10.1126/science.6164096. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Manoussakis M. N., Kistis K. G., Liu X., Aidinis V., Guialis A., Moutsopoulos H. M. Detection of anti-Ro(SSA) antibodies in autoimmune diseases: comparison of five methods. Br J Rheumatol. 1993 Jun;32(6):449–455. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/32.6.449. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Meilof J. F., Bantjes I., De Jong J., Van Dam A. P., Smeenk R. J. The detection of anti-Ro/SS-A and anti-La/SS-B antibodies. A comparison of counterimmunoelectrophoresis with immunoblot, ELISA, and RNA-precipitation assays. J Immunol Methods. 1990 Oct 19;133(2):215–226. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(90)90362-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pettersson I., Hinterberger M., Mimori T., Gottlieb E., Steitz J. A. The structure of mammalian small nuclear ribonucleoproteins. Identification of multiple protein components reactive with anti-(U1)ribonucleoprotein and anti-Sm autoantibodies. J Biol Chem. 1984 May 10;259(9):5907–5914. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smeenk R., Brinkman K., van den Brink H., Termaat R. M., Berden J., Nossent H., Swaak T. Antibodies to DNA in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Their role in the diagnosis, the follow-up and the pathogenesis of the disease. Clin Rheumatol. 1990 Mar;9(1 Suppl 1):100–110. doi: 10.1007/BF02205557. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Steitz J. A., Berg C., Hendrick J. P., La Branche-Chabot H., Metspalu A., Rinke J., Yario T. A 5S rRNA/L5 complex is a precursor to ribosome assembly in mammalian cells. J Cell Biol. 1988 Mar;106(3):545–556. doi: 10.1083/jcb.106.3.545. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tan E. M. Antinuclear antibodies: diagnostic markers for autoimmune diseases and probes for cell biology. Adv Immunol. 1989;44:93–151. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60641-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tervaert J. W., van der Woude F. J., Fauci A. S., Ambrus J. L., Velosa J., Keane W. F., Meijer S., van der Giessen M., van der Hem G. K., The T. H. Association between active Wegener's granulomatosis and anticytoplasmic antibodies. Arch Intern Med. 1989 Nov;149(11):2461–2465. doi: 10.1001/archinte.149.11.2461. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tzioufas A. G., Manoussakis M. N., Drosos A. A., Silis G., Gharavi A. E., Moutsopoulos H. M. Enzyme immunoassays for the detection of IgG and IgM anti-dsDNA antibodies: clinical significance and specificity. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 1987 Jul-Sep;5(3):247–253. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Uchiumi T., Wahba A. J., Traut R. R. Topography and stoichiometry of acidic proteins in large ribosomal subunits from Artemia salina as determined by crosslinking. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Aug;84(16):5580–5584. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.16.5580. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. ter Borg E. J., Horst G., Hummel E. J., Limburg P. C., Kallenberg C. G. 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. 1990 May;33(5):634–643. doi: 10.1002/art.1780330505. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES