| 1. |
- Amano, Mariane T, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic analysis of complement C1s deficiency associated with systemic lupus erythernatosus highlights alternative splicing of normal C1s gene
- 2008
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Ingår i: Molecular Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-9142 .- 0161-5890. ; 45:6, s. 1693-1702
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Deficiencies of complement proteins of the classical pathway are strongly associated with the development of autoimmune diseases. Deficiency of Clr has been observed to occur concomitantly with deficiency in Cls and 9 out of 15 reported cases presented systemic lupus erythernatosus (SLE). Here, we describe a family in which all four children are deficient in Cls but only two of them developed SLE. Hemolytic activity mediated by the alternative and the lectin pathways were normal, but classical pathway activation was absent in all children's sera. Cls was undetectable, while in the parents' sera it was lower than in the normal controls. The levels of Clr observed in the siblings and parents sera were lower than in the control, while the concentrations of other complement proteins (C3, C4, MBL and MASP-2) were normal in all family members. Impairment of Cls synthesis was observed in the patients' fibroblasts when analyzed by confocal microscopy. We show that all four siblings are homozygous for a mutation at position 938 in exon 6 of the Cls cDNA that creates a premature stop codon. Our investigations led us to reveal the presence of previously uncharacterized splice variants of Cls mRNA transcripts in normal human cells. These variants are derived from the skipping of exon 3 and from the use of an alternative 3' splice site within intron I which increases the size of exon 2 by 87 nucleotides.
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| 2. |
- Breda, Leandro C D, et al.
(författare)
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Fine Mapping of the Interaction between C4b-Binding Protein and Outer Membrane Proteins LigA and LigB of Pathogenic Leptospira interrogans.
- 2015
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Ingår i: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1935-2735. ; 9:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The complement system consists of more than 40 proteins that participate in the inflammatory response and in pathogen killing. Complement inhibitors are necessary to avoid the excessive consumption and activation of this system on host cells. Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by spirochetes from the genus Leptospira. Pathogenic leptospires are able to escape from complement activation by binding to host complement inhibitors Factor H [FH] and C4b-binding protein (C4BP) while non-pathogenic leptospires are rapidly killed in the presence of fresh serum. In this study, we demonstrate that complement control protein domains (CCP) 7 and 8 of C4BP α-chain interact with the outer membrane proteins LcpA, LigA and LigB from the pathogenic leptospire L. interrogans. The interaction between C4BP and LcpA, LigA and LigB is sensitive to ionic strength and inhibited by heparin. We fine mapped the LigA and LigB domains involved in its binding to C4BP and heparin and found that both interactions are mediated through the bacterial immunoglobulin-like (Big) domains 7 and 8 (LigA7-8 and LigB7-8) of both LigA and LigB and also through LigB9-10. Therefore, C4BP and heparin may share the same binding sites on Lig proteins.
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| 3. |
- Janzi, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Screening for C3 deficiency in newborns using microarrays.
- 2009
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Ingår i: PloS one. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 4:4, s. e5321-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Dried blood spot samples (DBSS) from newborns are widely used in neonatal screening for selected metabolic diseases and diagnostic possibilities for additional disorders are continuously being evaluated. Primary immunodeficiency disorders comprise a group of more than one hundred diseases, several of which are fatal early in life. Yet, a majority of the patients are not diagnosed due to lack of high-throughput screening methods.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have previously developed a system using reverse phase protein microarrays for analysis of IgA levels in serum samples. In this study, we extended the applicability of the method to include determination of complement component C3 levels in eluates from DBSS collected at birth. Normal levels of C3 were readily detected in 269 DBSS from healthy newborns, while no C3 was detected in sera and DBSS from C3 deficient patients.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The findings suggest that patients with deficiencies of specific serum proteins can be identified by analysis of DBSS using reverse phase protein microarrays.
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