Agreement between Koning Boudewijnstichting and Universiteit Hasselt concerning fund for scientific research on Rheumatology (R-8405)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the world's most common autoimmune disease, is a chronic and disabling disease, in which inflammation of synovial joints leads to irreversible joint damage and destruction. One of the hallmarks of RA is the presence of autoantibodies, antibodies directed against self-proteins. Presence of two autoantibodies, rheumatoid factor (RF) and antibodies against citrullinated proteins (ACPA), in the blood of RA patients, is currently used in routine diagnostics. However, autoantibodies are not only used as a biomarker for RA, current evidence also points towards an active role for autoantibodies as drivers of the pathogenesis. Autoantibody profiling in the lab of Prof. Somers at Hasselt University, resulted in the identification of novel candidate autoantibody biomarkers for RA. Antibodies against two random synthetic peptides, UH-RA.1 and UH-RA.21, were most promising as they were detected in both early and seronegative RA patients. The aim of the current project is to identify the corresponding in vivo targets of the anti-UH-RA.1 and -UH-RA.21 antibodies. Identifying the in vivo antibody targets corresponding to UH-RA.1 and UH-RA.21 will provide insight in how these antibodies and their targets contribute to RA pathology, and it will offer new opportunities to further decipher the pathophysiological role of the antibody responses.

Keywords:autoantibodies, biomarker,, rheumatoid arthritis

Disciplines:Immunology