Cible autoantigénique dans l'infertilité étude de l'isoforme testiculaire de la calpastatine

Abstract

Increasingly, studies concerning diverse autoimmune disorders have demonstrated the presence of anti-calpastatin antibodies in the sera of such patients. Extensive research has been conducted on the implication of anti-calpastatin antibodies in the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis. Calpastatin, a polypeptide of 80kDa, is the natural inhibitor of calpains (cysteine proteases). Anti-calpastatin antibodies, present in the sera of arthritis patients, interfere with the function of calpastatin by preventing it from inhibiting the activity of calpains. Normally, calpains are termed biomodulators since their activity is non-destructive. However, an imbalance between the inhibitor/enzyme (calpastatin/calpain), due to the presence of anti-calpastatin antibodies, is suggested to lead to the cartilage destruction observed in this pathology. The discovery of the presence of anti-calpastatin antibodies in the sera of a female infertile patient leads one to propose that such an immune interference mechanism may exist in this pathological disorder as well. This study consists in identifying the immunodominants epitopes of the testis-specific isoform recognized by the sera of infertile, rheumatoid arthritis, vasectomized, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) anti-DNA positive patients."--Résumé abrégé par UMI