Department of Neurology, University of Louisville, KY, USA.
J Neuroimmunol. 2013 Jul 15;260(1-2):92-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2013.04.015. Epub 2013 May 9.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is associated with antibodies to aquaporin 4 (AQP4). We hypothesized that antibodies to AQP4 can be triggered by exposure to environmental proteins. We compared human AQP4 to plant and bacterial proteins to investigate the occurrence of significantly similar structures and sequences. High similarity to a known epitope for NMO-IgG, AQP4(207-232), was observed for corn ZmTIP4-1. NMO and non-NMO sera were assessed for reactivity to AQP4(207-232) and the corn peptide. NMO patient serum showed reactivity to both peptides as well as to plant tissue. These findings warrant further investigation into the role of the environment in NMO etiology.
视神经脊髓炎(NMO)与水通道蛋白 4(AQP4)抗体有关。我们假设 AQP4 抗体可以通过暴露于环境蛋白而被触发。我们比较了人类 AQP4 与植物和细菌蛋白,以研究是否存在显著相似的结构和序列。玉米 ZmTIP4-1 与已知的 NMO-IgG 表位 AQP4(207-232) 高度相似。我们评估了 NMO 和非 NMO 血清对 AQP4(207-232)和玉米肽的反应性。NMO 患者血清对两种肽以及植物组织均有反应。这些发现值得进一步研究环境在 NMO 发病机制中的作用。