Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by the destruction of multiple joints along with multiple organ involvement. The etiology of RA is still unknown. Various autoantigens have been proposed as targets of pathogenic T and B cells in RA, although none of their precise mechanisms or significance has been confirmed. Recently, autoantibodies recognizing citrullinated self-proteins (anticitrullinated peptide antibodies) were established as one of the most specific autoantibodies with high sensitivity in RA. In addition, a gene that codes for an enzyme producing citrullinated proteins (peptidylarginine deiminase [PADI] Type 4 gene) was found to be associated with RA. These findings strongly suggest that citrullinated proteins and anticitrullinated peptide antibodies have a pathogenic role in autoimmunity in RA. This article reviews recent findings on citrulline, citrullinated proteins, citrullinating enzyme PADI and anticitrullinated peptide antibodies from biochemical, his...
Published Version
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