On the origin of rheumatoid factors: Insights from analyses of variable region sequences

Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism
Willem J J FalkenburgTheo Rispens

Abstract

Rheumatoid factors (RFs) are thought to play an important role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but are also found in healthy donors (HDs). Previous studies examined variable region sequences of these autoantibodies at a time when knowledge of the human germline repertoire was incomplete. Here we collected and analyzed RF sequence data from the literature to elucidate how RFs develop and whether their characteristics differ between RA patients and HDs. A database was built containing nucleotide sequences of RF heavy and light chain variable domains and characteristics including affinity, isotype and specificity, all collected from published papers. Gene usage and mutation frequencies were analyzed using IMGT/HiV-QUEST. Selection strength was assessed with the BASELINe tool. Sequences were retrieved for 183 RF clones (87 RA; 67 HDs; 29 other). No biased gene usage was observed for RA and HDs. However, there does appear to be skewed gene usage in RFs from patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia. Mutation frequency varies considerably between RFs, and isotype-switched clones have significantly more mutations. Monospecific RFs carry more mutations than polyspecific RFs; no difference was found for RA- versus HD-derived RFs. Overall, repo...Continue Reading

Citations

Feb 23, 2020·Immunology and Cell Biology·Clara Young, Robert Brink
Sep 30, 2018·Nature Reviews. Rheumatology·Vivianne Malmström, Caroline Grönwall
Nov 3, 2021·Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology·J KoersT Rispens

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