Lack of Evidence for Molecular Mimicry in HIV-Infected Subjects

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 11; p. e0127662
• Main Authors: Burbelo, Peter D., Klimavicz, James S., Deeks, Steve G., Kovacs, Joseph A., Ragheb, Jack A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.11.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adults; Analysis; Anemia; Antibodies; Antibody Formation - immunology; Antigenic determinants; Antiretroviral agents; Aplasia; Autoantibodies; Autoantibodies - immunology; Biological response modifiers; Blood & organ donations; Care and treatment; Demography; Disease; Epitopes; Erythropoietin; Erythropoietin - immunology; Etiology; Female; Glycoprotein gp41; Histocompatibility antigen HLA; HIV; HIV infections; HIV Infections - immunology; HLA-DR Antigens - immunology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains - immunology; Immunoglobulins; Immunoprecipitation; Immunosuppression; Infections; Interferon; Interferon-alpha - immunology; Interleukin 2; Interleukin-2 - immunology; Lupus; Male; Mimicry; Molecular Mimicry; Monoclonal antibodies; Pathogens; Peptides; Proteins; RNA-directed DNA polymerase; Studies; Viral Proteins - immunology; United States; United States > US; San Francisco California; California
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127662

Previous studies in HIV patients have reported autoantibodies to several human proteins, including erythropoietin (EPO), interferon-α (IFN-α), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and HLA-DR, as potential mediators of anemia or immunosuppression. The etiology of these autoantibodies has been attributed to molecular mimicry between HIV epitopes and self-proteins. Here, the Luciferase Immunoprecipitation System (LIPS) was used to investigate the presence of such autoantibodies in HIV-infected adults. High levels of antibodies to HIV proteins such as capsid (p24), matrix (p17), envelope (gp41), and reverse transcriptase (RT) were detected using LIPS in both untreated and anti-retroviral-treated HIV-infected individuals but not in uninfected controls. LIPS readily detected anti-EPO autoantibodies in serum samples from subjects with presumptive pure red cell aplasia but not in any of the samples from HIV-infected or uninfected individuals. Similarly, subjects with HIV lacked autoantibodies to IFN-α, IL-2, HLA-DR and the immunoglobulin lambda light chain; all purported targets of molecular mimicry. While molecular mimicry between pathogen proteins and self-proteins is a commonly proposed mechanism for autoantibody production, the findings presented here indicate such a process is not common in HIV disease.