Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is characterized by the development of autoantibodies against diverse self-antigens with damage to multiple organs. Immunization with the SLE autoantigen β2 -glycoprotein I (β2 GPI) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a known trigger of necroptosis, induces a murine model of SLE. We hypothesized that necroptotic cells, like apoptotic cells, provide a "scaffold" of cellular self-antigens, but, unlike apoptotic cells, necroptotic cells do so in a proinflammatory and immunogenic context. We demonstrate that β2 GPI indeed binds to necroptotic cells and serves as a target for anti-β2 GPI autoantibodies. We further demonstrate that necroptotic, but not apoptotic, cells promote antigenic presentation of β2 GPI to CD4 T cells by dendritic cells. Finally, we show that β2 GPI/LPS-immunized mice deficient in RIPK3 (receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 3) or MLKL (mixed lineage kinase domain like), and consequently unable to undergo necroptosis, have reduced SLE autoantibody production and pathology. RIPK3-/- mice had low levels of SLE autoantibodies and no renal pathology, while MLKL-/- mice produced low levels of SLE autoantibodies initially, but later developed levels comparable with wild type (WT) mice and pathology intermediate to that of WT and RIPK3-/- mice. Serum cytokine levels induced by LPS tended to be lower in RIPK3-/- and MLKL-/- mice than in WT mice, suggesting that impaired proinflammatory cytokine production may impact the initiation of autoantibody production in both strains. Our data suggest that self-antigen (i.e. β2 GPI) presented in the context of necroptosis and proinflammatory signals may be sufficient to overcome immune tolerance and induce SLE.
Keywords: autoantibodies; autoantigens; necroptosis; systemic lupus erythematosus; β2-glycoprotein I.
© 2019 Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology Inc.