ARTICLE: Alternative exon usage in TRIM21 determines the antigenicity of Ro52/TRIM21 in systemic lupus erythematosus
AUTHORS: Eduardo Gomez-Bañuelos 1, M Javad Wahadat 2 3, Jessica Li 1, Merlin Paz 1, Brendan Antiochos 1, Alessandra Ida Celia 1 4, Victoria Andrade 1, Dylan P Ferris, Daniel W Goldman, Erika Darrah, Michelle Petri, Felipe Andrade
JOURNAL: JCI Insight. 2022 Oct 10;7(19):e163795. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.163795.
Abstract
The origin and mechanisms of autoantigen generation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are poorly understood. Here, we identified SLE neutrophils activated in vivo by IFN as a prominent source of Ro52, also known as tripartite motif-containing protein 21 (TRIM21), a critical autoantigen historically thought to be primarily generated by keratinocytes in SLE. Different from mononuclear cells and keratinocytes, SLE neutrophils are enriched in several unique Ro52 species containing a core sequence encoded by exon 4 (Ro52Ex4) in TRIM21. Ro52Ex4 is the main target of anti-Ro52 antibodies and is found in 2 Ro52 variants (Ro52α and a potentially novel isoform termed Ro52γ) upregulated in SLE neutrophils. Further analysis of Ro52γ revealed a subset of autoantibodies against a unique C-terminal domain (Ro52γCT) generated from a frameshift due to the lack of exon 6 in Ro52γ. Antibodies to Ro52Ex4 and Ro52γCT distinguish SLE patient subsets characterized by distinct clinical, laboratory, treatment, and transcriptional profiles that are not discerned by the "classical" anti-Ro52 antibodies. These studies uncover IFN-activated neutrophils as a key source of unique immunogenic forms of Ro52 in SLE. Moreover, the finding of Ro52Ex4 and Ro52γCT as core targets of anti-Ro52 antibodies focus interest on Ro52γ as the potential isoform toward which immunological tolerance is initially lost in SLE.
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