Kam M, Perl-Treves D, Caspi D, Addadi L
Dept of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
FASEB J. 1992 May;6(8):2608-13. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.6.8.1592211.
We suggest that crystals, when introduced into an organism, may behave as conventional antigens, mediating the production of specific antibodies. These antibodies would bear an imprint of the crystal surface and may consequently behave as a nucleating matrix in a new crystallization event. Thus, they would behave as catalytic antibodies. We show that IgG antibodies isolated from patients suffering from gout, a joint disease caused by crystals of monosodium urate monohydrate (MSUM), accelerate the appearance of new crystals of MSUM from a supersaturated solution of the salt in vitro. The same effect is not observed for IgG antibodies isolated from the joint fluids of patients with other joint diseases, such as pseudogout, rheumatoid arthritis, or osteoarthritis. Furthermore, IgG antibodies obtained from rabbits injected subcutaneously with crystals of MSUM, were also nucleating towards MSUM crystals.
我们认为，晶体在引入生物体时，可能表现为传统抗原，介导特异性抗体的产生。这些抗体将带有晶体表面的印记，因此可能在新的结晶事件中作为成核基质。因此，它们将表现为催化抗体。我们发现，从患有痛风（一种由一水合尿酸钠（MSUM）晶体引起的关节疾病）的患者中分离出的IgG抗体，能在体外加速MSUM新晶体从该盐的过饱和溶液中出现。从患有其他关节疾病（如假性痛风、类风湿性关节炎或骨关节炎）的患者关节液中分离出的IgG抗体则未观察到同样的效果。此外，从皮下注射MSUM晶体的兔子体内获得的IgG抗体，对MSUM晶体也具有成核作用。
