Cellular immunity to cartilage aggrecan core protein in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and non-arthritic controls

To identify antigen(s) among purified deglycosylated aggrecan peptides spanning the chondroitin sulphate domain that may be responsible for the initiation or perpetuation of the autoimmune responses in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Aggrecan was purified from human articular cartilage and deglycosylated with either bacterial glycosidases or trifluoromethanesulphonic acid (TFMS). Twelve overlapping peptides (15 residues) spanning the chondroitin sulphate domain with N-terminal residues offset by three amino acids were synthesised. T cell responses to these antigens in RA patients and age matched controls were assessed in vitro by antigen specific T cell proliferation assays.

Enzymically deglycosylated aggrecan (EDA) stimulated proliferation of T cells isolated from the peripheral blood in a greater proportion of patients with RA than controls. In a subset (12.5%) of RA patients, the magnitude of stimulation lay outside the control range. T cell proliferative responses to TFMS treated aggrecan were greater than, but well correlated with, responses to EDA. T cells from 15 patients were also stimulated with the pooled synthetic peptides. Four of seven patients who demonstrated T cell reactivity to EDA (seven of 15) also showed enhanced T cell proliferation to synthetic peptides.

These data suggest that an autoantigenic T cell epitope may lie within the chondroitin sulphate domain of aggrecan.