Background: Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) are highly specific for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In vivo, ACPAs target peptidyl-citrulline epitopes (cit-) in a variety of proteins (cit-prot-ACPAs) and derived peptides (cit-pept-ACPAs) generated via the peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) isoenzymes. We aimed to identify a cell line with self-citrullination capacity, to describe its autoantigenic citrullinome, and to test it as a source of autocitrullinated proteins and peptides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear protein that acts as an alarmin when released into the extracellular milieu. HMGB1 is a biomarker of active disease in several systemic autoimmune diseases. Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disorder with a waxing/waning course.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRNA interference (RNAi) is a post-transcriptional gene silencing mechanism preserved during evolution. This mechanism, recently described, is mediated by small double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) that can specifically recognize a target mRNA sequence and mediate its cleavage or translational repression. The use of RNAi as a tool for gene therapy has been extensively studied, especially in viral infections, cancer, inherited genetic disorders, cardiovascular and rheumatic diseases.
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