Publications by authors named "Nicoletta Ferru"
Significance Statement: Membranous nephropathy (MN) is an autoimmune kidney disease characterized by immune deposits in the glomerular basement membrane. Circulating anti-phospholipase A 2 receptor 1 (PLA 2 R1) antibodies are detectable in 70%-80% of patients with MN, but experimental evidence of pathogenicity has been lacking. This study demonstrates the pathogenicity of human anti-PLA 2 R1 antibodies in minipigs, a model for MN that intrinsically expresses PLA 2 R1 on podocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Primary membranous nephropathy (MN) is caused by circulating autoantibodies binding to antigens on the podocyte surface. PLAR1 is the main target antigen in 70%-80% of cases, but the pathogenesis is unresolved in 10%-15% of patients.
Methods: We used native western blotting to identify IgG4 autoantibodies, which bind an antigen endogenously expressed on podocyte membranes, in the serum of the index patient with MN.