The restriction fragment length polymorphism of the two human HLA-B-associated transcripts (BATs) genes, BAT1 and BAT2, identifying polymorphic bands of 12, 8, 2.5, and 1.1 kb, and at 3.3, 2.7, 2.3, and 0.9 kb, respectively, was investigated in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (P-JRA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), and in healthy Danes.
Furthermore, the identification of alleles of the TNF-beta gene which differ in one unique amino acid, and in the production of TNF-beta after phytohaemagglutinin stimulation, has prompted the idea of a possible linkage between the impaired TNF-beta response in PBC and the genetic prevalence of a certain TNF haplotype.
The associations between PBC and B8, DR3, DQA1*0501, and DQB1*0201, which are frequently found together on the same haplotype, are at variance with recent reports on associations between PBC and Drw8.
The following genetic markers were found with increased frequencies in PBC: HLA-B8 (relative risk, RR = 2.4, P less than 0.05, 'corrected' P greater than 0.05), HLA-DR3 (RR = 3.4, P less than 0.01, 'corrected' P less than 0.05), the DRB3*01/02/03 (DRw52) associated DRB Bgl II 9.1 kilobase (kb) fragment (RR = 2.9; P less than 0.05, 'corrected' P greater than 0.05), the DQA1*0501 associated DQA Taq I 4.8 kb fragment (RR = 3.1; P less than 0.05, 'corrected' P greater than 0.05), the DQB1*0201 (DQw2) associated DQB Hin dIII 11.5 kb fragment (RR = 3.1; P less than 0.05, 'corrected' P greater than 0.05).
A major issue in the study of the pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis is whether the E2 subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH-E2), the major autoantigen in the disease, exists as a tissue-specific isoform. cDNA clones spanning a segment of the 3'-catalytic region of PDH-E2 (nt 1158-1361) have been isolated from human kidney, placenta and bile epithelium cells.
To address the relative importance of the region(s) in the PDC-E2 inner lipoyl domain to antibody binding, we report herein detailed profiles of 12 PDC-E2-specific antigen-binding fragments, SP1 through SP12, derived by screening of a combinatorial immunoglobulin library (derived from a primary biliary cirrhosis patient) with full-length native PDC-E2.
The results have suggested that the epitope recognized with anti-HSP60 antibodies in PBC relates to the amino acid sequence of YeHSP60 molecule as follows: DLGQAKRVVINKDTTIIIDGVGDEAAIQGRLAQIRQQIEEATSDYDKEK.