@misc{LiedtkeRoseHiemannetal., author = {Liedtke, Victoria and Rose, Laura and Hiemann, Rico and Nasser, Abdullah and R{\"o}diger, Stefan and Bonaventura, Alena and Winkler, Laura and Sowa, Mandy and St{\"o}ckle, Michael and Schierack, Peter and Junker, Kerstin and Roggenbuck, Dirk}, title = {Over-Expression of LEDGF/p75 in HEp-2 Cells Enhances Autoimmune IgG Response in Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia—A Novel Diagnostic Approach with Therapeutic Consequence?}, series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, volume = {24}, journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, number = {7}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms24076166}, abstract = {Lens epithelium-derived growth factor splice variant of 75 kDa (LEDGF/p75) is an autoantigen over-expressed in solid tumors and acts as a stress-related transcriptional co-activator. Participation of autoimmune responses in the pathophysiology of benign prostatic hyperplasia (PBH) and a corresponding immunosuppressive therapy by TNFalpha antagonists has been recently suggested. Thus, autoAb testing could aid in the diagnosis of BPH patients profiting from such therapy. We generated CRISPR/Cas9 modified HEp-2 LEDGF knock-out (KO) and HEp-2 LEDGF/p75 over-expressing (OE) cells and examined IgG autoantibody reactivity to LEDGF/p75 in patients with prostate cancer (PCa, n = 89), bladder cancer (BCa, n = 116), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, n = 103), and blood donors (BD, n = 60) by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Surprisingly, we could not detect elevated binding of autoAbs against LEDGF/p75 in cancer patients, but autoAb reactivity to LEDGF/p75 OE cells in about 50\% of patients with BPH was unexpectedly significantly increased. Furthermore, a line immunoassay enabling the detection of 18 different autoAbs revealed a significantly increased occurrence of anti-dsDNA autoAbs in 34\% of BPH patients in contrast to tumor patients and BD. This finding was confirmed by anti-mitochondrial (mDNA) autoAb detection with the Crithidia luciliae immunofluorescence test, which also showed a significantly higher prevalence (34\%) of anti-mDNA autoAbs in BPH. In summary, our study provided further evidence for the occurrence of autoimmune responses in BPH. Furthermore, LEDGF/p75 over-expression renders HEp-2 cells more autoantigenic and an ideal target for autoAb analysis in BPH with a potential therapy consequence.}, language = {en} } @misc{LopensWunschMilkiewiczetal., author = {Lopens, Steffi and Wunsch, Ewa and Milkiewicz, Malgorzata and R{\"o}ber, Nadja and Zarske, Grit and Nasser, Abdullah and Conrad, Karsten and Laass, Martin W. and R{\"o}diger, Stefan and Krawczyk, Marcin and Roggenbuck, Dirk and Milkiewicz, Piotr}, title = {PR3-ANCAs Detected by Third-Generation ELISA Predicts Severe Disease and Poor Survival in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis}, series = {Diagnostics}, volume = {12}, journal = {Diagnostics}, number = {11}, issn = {2075-4418}, doi = {10.3390/diagnostics12112682}, abstract = {A highly sensitive detection of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies to serine proteinase-3 (PR3-ANCAs) aids in the serological diagnosis of autoimmune liver disorders and the prediction of severity in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Here, we evaluate a novel third-generation ELISA for the detection of PR3-ANCAs. In total, 309 patients with PSC, 51 with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), and 120 healthy blood donors (BD) were analyzed. For the survival analysis in PSC, the outcome was defined as liver-transplantation-free survival during the follow-up. Positive PR3-ANCA levels were found in 74/309 (24.0\%) of patients with PSC. No BDs and one patient with PBC demonstrated PR3-ANCA positivity. PR3-ANCAs were revealed as independent predictors for a poor PSC outcome (study endpoint: liver transplantation/death, log-rank test, p = 0.02). PR3-ANCA positivity, lower albumin levels, and higher bilirubin concentrations were independent risks of a poor survival (Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis, p < 0.05). The Mayo risk score for PSC was associated with PR3-ANCA positivity (p = 0.01) and the disease severity assessed with a model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) and extended MELD-Na (p < 0.05). PR3-ANCAs detected by a third-generation ELISA are diagnostic and prognostic markers for PSC. Their wider use could help to identify patients who are at-risk of a more severe disease.}, language = {en} }