The distribution of heterophilic antigens and their relationship with autoimmune diseases

Lijun Sun; Nana Wang; Yangmeng Feng; Xueping Huo; Qing Feng; Xiangrong Zhao; Yan Li; Liting Yan; Xin Xie; Jun Hu

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1275658

The distribution of heterophilic antigens and their relationship with autoimmune diseases

Front Immunol. 2023 Nov 10:14:1275658. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1275658. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lijun Sun^{1

2}, Nana Wang^{1

2}, Yangmeng Feng^{1

2}, Xueping Huo^{1

2}, Qing Feng^{1

2}, Xiangrong Zhao^{1

2}, Yan Li^{1

2}, Liting Yan^{1

2}, Xin Xie³, Jun Hu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Infection and Immune Diseases, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
² Shaanxi Province Research Center of Cell Immunological Engineering and Technology, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Microbial infections are associated with the occurrence of autoimmune diseases, but the mechanisms of microbial infection inducing autoimmune diseases are not fully understood. The existence of heterophilic antigens between microorganisms and human tissues may explain part of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Here, we investigate the distribution of heterophilic antigens and its relationship with autoimmune diseases.

Methods: Monoclonal antibodies against a variety of microorganisms were prepared. The titer, subclass and reactivity of antibodies with microorganisms were identified, and heterophilic antibodies that cross-reacted with human tissues were screened by human tissue microarray. The reactivity of these heterophilic antibodies with different individuals and different species was further examined by immunohistochemistry.

Results: In this study, 21 strains of heterophilic antibodies were screened. The results showed that these heterophilic antibodies were produced due to the existence of heterophilic antigens between microorganism and human body and the distribution of heterophilic antigens had individual, tissue and species differences.

Conclusion: Our study showed that heterophilic antigens exist widely between microorganisms and human body, and the heterophilic antigens carried by microorganisms may break the immune tolerance of the body through carrier effect and initiate immune response, which may be one of the important mechanisms of infection inducing autoimmune diseases.

Keywords: autoimmune reaction; carrier effect; heterophilic antibody; heterophilic antigen; microorganisms.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Heterophile
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Antigens, Heterophile*
Autoimmune Diseases*
Humans
Immunohistochemistry

Substances

Antigens, Heterophile
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Antibodies, Heterophile

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi (no.2021ZDLSF01-03), Talent Support Program of Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital (no.2021JY-32) and Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (no.2023-JC-QN-0855).