Human upper epidermal cytoplasmic antibodies are directed against keratin intermediate filament proteins

Upper cytoplasmic (U-Cyt) antibodies are directed against cytoplasmic antigens found in keratinocytes in the upper layers of the epidermis. Until now, they have been defined by indirect immunofluorescence and are known to occur in the sera of patients with cutaneous diseases such as bullous dermatoses, basal cell carcinomas, and melanomas. An increased incidence of U-Cyt antibodies has also been reported in the sera of patients with noncutaneous diseases, such as pulmonary neoplasms. They have been found in addition in the sera of some normal individuals. In this study we have identified keratin intermediate filaments (KIF) as antigens U-Cyt antibodies are directed against. KIF proteins were prepared, separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transblotted to nitro-cellulose strips, and used as substrates for antibody binding. Sera containing U-Cyt antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence also had antibodies that were directed against high molecular weight (65,000, 63,000, 61,500) KIF proteins. When KIF proteins were separated according to their charge and their molecular weight by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and transblotted, the anti-KIF protein antibodies bound to virtually all charge isomers of the KIF proteins at the respective molecular weight. The antibody titers measured using the transblotting technique were 10 to 160 times higher than those found by indirect immunofluorescence. To determine whether U-Cyt antibodies were directed against KIF, a series of absorption and elution experiments were performed. Absorption of test sera with purified KIF removed both U-Cyt antibodies and anti-KIF protein antibodies. Absorption with another type of intermediate filament derived from fibroblasts, vimentin, did not remove U-Cyt or anti-KIF protein antibodies. Absorbed U-Cyt and anti-KIF protein antibodies were both eluted from the same KIF preparation and shown to bind to U-Cyt antigens by indirect immunofluorescence and KIF proteins by transblotting. Absorption of a serum containing U-Cyt antibodies, anti-nuclear antibodies, and anti-basement membrane zone antibodies with purified KIF resulted in the removal of the U-Cyt antibodies but not the other types of antibody. In addition, all test sera, even those that lacked U-Cyt antibodies, were found to have low-titer antibodies against KIF proteins by the transblotting technique. These data indicate that KIF proteins bear antigens to which U-Cyt antibodies are directed and that low titer antibodies against KIF proteins may be much more common than previously appreciated.