Bovine beta2GPI Research Articles

Suppression of early atherosclerosis in LDL-receptor deficient mice by oral tolerance with beta 2-glycoprotein I.

Atherosclerosis is considered analogous to chronic inflammatory diseases. Beta 2-glycoprotein I (beta 2GPI) is a phospholipid binding protein shown to serve as a target for prothrombotic antiphospholipid antibodies. It has recently been demonstrated to drive an immune mediated reaction and enhance murine atherosclerosis. Oral tolerance is a method in which feeding a given antigen, downregulates the respective immune responses towards it, and attenuates concomitant organ specific disorders. Herein, we tested the hypothesis, that inhibiting cellular immunity to beta 2GPI would result in suppression of fatty streak formation in mice. LDL receptor deficient mice were fed different doses of human or bovine beta 2GPI or BSA and than switched to an atherogenic diet. To determine the effect of feeding on lymph node proliferative indices, separate groups of mice were fed beta 2GPI and then immunized with the respective antigen. Feeding either human or bovine beta 2GPI was effective in attenuating atherosclerosis as compared to control fed animals. Oral feeding with of beta 2GPI inhibited lymph node cell reactivity to beta 2GPI in mice immunized against the human protein. Oral tolerance was also capable of reducing reactivity to oxidized LDL in mice immunized against oxLDL. IL-4 and IL-10 production was upregulated in lymph node cells of beta 2GPI-tolerant mice immunized against beta 2GPI, upon priming with the respective protein. Thus, oral administration of beta 2GPI is an effective means of suppressing atherogenesis in mice and should further be investigated.

Immunization of naive BALB/c mice with human beta2-glycoprotein I breaks tolerance to the murine molecule.

Immunization of naive mice with beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2GPI) leads to the generation of pathogenic anticardiolipin antibodies associated with clinical manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The aim of this study was to determine whether immunization of naive mice with human beta2GPI, which shares homology with mouse beta2GPI molecules, breaks tolerance to murine beta2GPI and leads to the generation of anti-mouse beta2GPI. Twenty-four female BALB/c mice were immunized in the footpads with 10 microg of human beta2GPI. Twelve age- and sex-matched BALB/c mice were immunized in the same manner with Freund's complete adjuvant and served as controls. The reactivity of whole sera, polyclonal IgG, and affinity-purified anti-beta2GPI IgG antibodies against human, bovine, and mouse beta2GPI was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. High titers of anti-human beta2GPI IgG antibodies were detected 1 month after immunization. Progressively increasing titers against murine and bovine beta2GPI were recorded 1-4 months after injection. Immunization of mice with human beta2GPI resulted in the generation of antibodies reacting with human, bovine, and murine beta2GPI. The loss of tolerance to mouse beta2GPI is attributable to the high interspecies homology of beta2GPI. These results may point to molecular mimicry as a possible cause of APS.

Species Specificity of Anti-β2 Glycoprotein I Autoantibodies and Its Relevance to Anticardiolipin Antibody Quantitation

Some patients suspected of having antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) were found to be positive for anti-beta 2 glycoprotein I (beta 2GPI) antibodies despite negative results for antibodies to cardiolipin (ACA). Since the major source of beta 2GPI in the ACA assay is animal (usually bovine) serum, we studied the influence on ACA quantitation of the species specificity of anti-beta 2GPI antibodies from patients with various autoimmune disorders, mostly systemic lupus erythematosus and primary APS. Ninety-seven sera were selected based on IgG (n = 76) or IgM (n = 64) positivity by ELISA using gamma-irradiated plates coated with human or bovine purified beta 2GPI. A higher proportion of IgM (43.7%) than IgG (7.9%) reacted to human, but not bovine, beta 2GPI. Furthermore, from the samples reactive to both proteins, the ratio of antibody level against bovine to that against human beta 2GPI was 1.08 +/- 0.58 for IgG and 0.58 +/- 0.3 for IgM (p < 10(-5)). IgG and IgM ACA were detected in 78 and 40 sera, respectively; concordance between the two ELISAs for ACA and anti-beta 2GPI antibodies was 94% for IgG and 75% for IgM. Out of 28 IgM showing recognition restricted to human beta 2GPI, 21 were missed by the ACA assay, possibly because of lower concentrations of beta 2GPI in those patients' sera. The antibody reactivity pattern towards human and bovine beta 2GPI of individual sera showed no variation with time and was related to the relative antibody avidity for each protein. A murine anti-human beta 2GPI monoclonal antibody, 9G1, that cross-reacts with bovine beta 2GPI, competed to a large extent with the patients' anti-beta 2GPI antibody binding sites whatever isotype involved or protein recognized. Therefore, anti-beta 2GPI antibodies of IgM isotype display a marked preference for human compared to bovine beta 2GPI responsible for frequent inconsistencies in the ACA assay.

Role of the N- and C-terminal domains of bovine beta 2-glycoprotein I in its interaction with cardiolipin.

beta 2-Glycoprotein I (beta 2-GPI) is a cofactor in the recognition of the phospholipid antigen cardiolipin by anti-cardiolipin antibodies in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. We examined the interactions of various forms of bovine beta 2-GPI, such as its intact form, desialylated form (Asialo-beta 2-GPI), N-terminal domain (Domain I), and modified forms of beta 2-GPI and Asialo-beta 2-GPI with nicks in their C-terminal domains, with phospholipid liposomes under different conditions of pH and ionic strength. We found that at neutral pH and low ionic strength, beta 2-GPI became bound to liposome membranes containing cardiolipin, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidic acid, or phosphatidylinositol, but not phosphatidylcholine alone. The number of phospholipids involved in the binding seemed to depend on the head group structure of the negatively charged phospholipids, but the dissociation constant did not, being about 10(-8) M, except that for the interaction with phosphatidylinositol, which was one order of magnitude lower. We also found that Domain I and Asialo-beta 2-GPI bound to liposome membranes containing negatively charged phospholipids, and that in the interaction with cardiolipin, their dissociation constants were about 10(-6) and 10(-8) M, respectively. At neutral pH and both low and high ionic strengths, the affinities of the nicked forms of beta 2-GPI and Asialo-beta 2-GPI for cardiolipin were both lower than those of their intact forms but similar to that of Domain I.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Detection of anti-bovine beta 2-glycoprotein I antibody in sera from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome.

We studied and characterized anti-bovine beta 2-glycoprotein I antibodies (aB beta 2-GPI) in sera from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) by ELISA. Bovine beta 2-glycoprotein I (beta 2-GPI) was purified by heparin affinity and DEAE ion-exchange chromatography, and identified on immunoblots using a monoclonal antibody against human beta 2-GPI and by amino acid sequence analysis. aB beta 2-GPI levels in the sera from 36 APS patients were measured by ELISA using purified bovine beta 2-GPI as an antigen. The mean +/- standard deviation level of aB beta 2-GPI was 17.4 +/- 22.0 units in the 58% of APS patients who were positive. There was a significant correlation (P = 0.003) between aB beta 2-GPI and anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) levels. aB beta 2-GPI from the sera of patients with APS was inhibited by bovine beta 2-GPI itself. Purified IgG from the sera of patients with APS showed that bovine beta 2-GPI was capable of acting as a cofactor for aCL. Purified bovine beta 2-GPI was useful antigen for conventional ELISA. aB beta 2-GPI may contribute to the further development of aCL analysis and to the understanding of the pathogenesis of APS.

Structure and function of beta 2-glycoprotein I: with special reference to the interaction with phospholipid.

beta 2-Glycoprotein I (beta 2-GPI) is a cofactor in the recognition of a phospholipid antigen, cardiolipin, by anticardiolipin antibodies in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. We examined the interaction of various forms of bovine beta 2-GPI, such as its intact form, desialylated form (Asialo beta 2-GPI), N-terminal domain (domain I) and the modified forms of beta 2-GPI and Asialo beta 2-GPI with nicks in their C-terminal domains (domain 5), with phospholipid liposomes under different conditions of pH and ionic strength. We found that at neutral pH and low ionic strength beta 2-GPI bound to liposome membranes containing cardiolipin with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 10(-8) M. Phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidic acid or phosphatidylinositol bound to beta 2-GPI, but phosphatidylcholine did not. We also found that domain I and Asialo beta 2-GPI bound to cardiolipin with Kd values of 10(-6) and 10(-8) M, respectively. At neutral pH and both low and high ionic strengths, the affinities of nicked forms of beta 2-GPI and Asialo beta 2-GPI for cardiolipin were lower than those of intact forms but similar to that of domain 1.