Highly immunoreactive IgG antibodies directed against a set of twenty human proteins in the sera of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identified by protein array

PLoS One. 2014 Feb 26;9(2):e89596. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089596. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common adult-onset motor neuron disorder, is characterized by the progressive and selective loss of upper and lower motor neurons. Diagnosis of this disorder is based on clinical assessment, and the average survival time is less than 3 years. Injections of IgG from ALS patients into mice are known to specifically mark motor neurons. Moreover, IgG has been found in upper and lower motor neurons in ALS patients. These results led us to perform a case-control study using human protein microarrays to identify the antibody profiles of serum samples from 20 ALS patients and 20 healthy controls. We demonstrated high levels of 20 IgG antibodies that distinguished the patients from the controls. These findings suggest that a panel of antibodies may serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker for ALS.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / blood*
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / diagnosis
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / immunology*
  • Animals
  • Antibodies / blood*
  • Antibodies / immunology*
  • Biomarkers / blood*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G / blood*
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Middle Aged
  • Motor Neurons / immunology*
  • Prognosis
  • Protein Array Analysis
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antibodies
  • Biomarkers
  • Immunoglobulin G

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fond (ERDF) of the European Union and the Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (ParkChip, FZ 280381102) and TÁMOP-4.2.1./B-09/1/KONV-2010-0005- Creating the Center of Excellence at the University of Szeged/Supported by the European Union and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.