Autoantibodies reactive with extracellular matrix proteins in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy

Autoantibodies reacting with extracellular matrix proteins have been extensively studied in various autoimmune connective tissue diseases. Because of the possibility that such antibodies may play a role in orbital connective tissue inflammation in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO), we studied the humoral immune response against specific extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, namely: collagen types I, III, IV, V (CI, CIII, CIV, CV), fibronectin (FN), and laminin (LM). Anti-ECM antibodies of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA, and IgM classes were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Overall, sera from 50% of patients with TAO contained antibodies reactive against one or more ECM proteins, compared to 27% with Graves' disease (GD) without evident eye involvement, 28% with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), and 9% of normal subjects. Serum anti-CI, anti-CIII, anti-CV and anti-LM levels were significantly (p<0.05) higher in patients with TAO than in normals. Anti-CI, anti-CV and anti-LM reactivity was antigen-specific in most TAO sera, while anti-CIII antibodies cross-reacted with other antigens. Anti-collagen antibodies were mainly of the IgG class. To determine the structural epitopes of these proteins, we performed immunoblotting studies on cyanogenbromide (CNBr)-derived peptides of CI and CV. While sera from 9 of 10 patients with TAO reacted with CI peptides, the response was polyclonal and uniform in all patients. However, only 2 of 10 TAO sera reacted with CV peptides. In conclusion, our study suggests that a variety of ECM proteins (CI, CV, LM) may be secondary autoantigens that are recognized by antibodies in TAO. While these antibodies appear to react with epitopes expressed on both native and denatured proteins, and may therefore have the potential to bind to ECM in vivo, their pathogenic role in TAO remains unknown.