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Pisetsky DS, Herbert A. The role of DNA in the pathogenesis of SLE: DNA as a molecular chameleon. Ann Rheum Dis 2024; 83:830-837. [PMID: 38749573 PMCID: PMC11168871 DOI: 10.1136/ard-2023-225266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease characterised by antibodies to DNA (anti-DNA) and other nuclear macromolecules. Anti-DNA antibodies are markers for classification and disease activity and promote pathogenesis by forming immune complexes that deposit in the tissue or stimulate cytokine production. Studies on the antibody response to DNA have focused primarily on a conformation of DNA known as B-DNA, the classic right-handed double helix. Among other conformations of DNA, Z-DNA is a left-handed helix with a zig-zag backbone; hence, the term Z-DNA. Z-DNA formation is favoured by certain base sequences, with the energetically unfavourable flip from B-DNA to Z-DNA dependent on conditions. Z-DNA differs from B-DNA in its immunogenicity in animal models. Furthermore, anti-Z-DNA antibodies, but not anti-B-DNA antibodies, can be present in otherwise healthy individuals. In SLE, antibodies to Z-DNA can occur in association with antibodies to B-DNA as a cross-reactive response, rising and falling together. While formed transiently in chromosomal DNA, Z-DNA is stably present in bacterial biofilms; biofilms can provide protection against antibiotics and other challenges including elements of host defence. The high GC content of certain bacterial DNA also favours Z-DNA formation as do DNA-binding proteins of bacterial or host origin. Together, these findings suggest that sources of Z-DNA can enhance the immunogenicity of DNA and, in SLE, stimulate the production of cross-reactive antibodies that bind both B-DNA and Z-DNA. As such, DNA can act as a molecular chameleon that, when stabilised in the Z-DNA conformation, can drive autoimmunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S Pisetsky
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Medical Research, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Alan Herbert
- InsideOutBio Inc, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
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Pisetsky DS, Gedye MJ, David LA, Spencer DM. The Binding Properties of Antibodies to Z-DNA in the Sera of Normal Healthy Subjects. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:2556. [PMID: 38473808 PMCID: PMC10931986 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25052556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Antibodies to DNA are a diverse set of antibodies that bind sites on DNA, a polymeric macromolecule that displays various conformations. In a previous study, we showed that sera of normal healthy subjects (NHS) contain IgG antibodies to Z-DNA, a left-handed helix with a zig-zig backbone. Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of Z-DNA in bacterial biofilms, suggesting a source of this conformation to induce responses. To characterize further antibodies to Z-DNA, we used an ELISA assay with brominated poly(dGdC) as a source of Z-DNA and determined the isotype of these antibodies and their binding properties. Results of these studies indicate that NHS sera contain IgM and IgA as well as IgG anti-Z-DNA antibodies. As shown by the effects of ionic strength in association and dissociation assays, the anti-Z-DNA antibodies bind primarily by electrostatic interactions; this type of binding differs from that of induced anti-Z-DNA antibodies from immunized animals which bind by non-ionic interactions. Furthermore, urea caused dissociation of NHS anti-Z-DNA at molar concentrations much lower than those for the induced antibodies. These studies also showed IgA anti-Z-DNA antibodies in fecal water. Together, these studies demonstrate that antibodies to Z-DNA occur commonly in normal immunity and may arise as a response to Z-DNA of bacterial origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S. Pisetsky
- Medical Research Service, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA;
- Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Matthew J. Gedye
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA; (M.J.G.); (L.A.D.)
| | - Lawrence A. David
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA; (M.J.G.); (L.A.D.)
- Duke Microbiome Center, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Diane M. Spencer
- Medical Research Service, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA;
- Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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Spencer DM, Svenungsson E, Gunnarsson I, Caricchio R, Pisetsky DS. The expression of antibodies to Z-DNA in the blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: Relationship to autoantibodies to B-DNA. Clin Immunol 2023; 255:109763. [PMID: 37673226 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2023.109763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
To explore the antibody response to Z-DNA, a DNA conformation with a zig-zag structure, blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and otherwise healthy individuals (NHS) were assayed by ELISA using brominated poly(dGdC), a synthetic Z-DNA antigen. These studies showed that SLE patients commonly express antibodies to Z-DNA; NHS also had binding in this assay. In SLE blood, levels of antibodies to Z-DNA were related to those to B-DNA using calf thymus DNA as a source of B-DNA; cross-reactivity was demonstrated by adsorption experiments using DNA cellulose. As shown by dissociation assays, antibody binding of SLE anti-Z-DNA is sensitive to the effects of ionic strength, suggesting electrostatic binding. Since Z-DNA structure can be found in bacterial DNA as well as bacterial biofilms, these findings suggest that, in SLE, anti-DNA antibody responses can result from stimulation by DNA of bacterial origin, with cross-reactivity leading to autoreactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane M Spencer
- Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Elisabet Svenungsson
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Iva Gunnarsson
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Roberto Caricchio
- Division of Rheumatology, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - David S Pisetsky
- Medical Research Service, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
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Herbert A, Fedorov A, Poptsova M. Mono a Mano: ZBP1’s Love–Hate Relationship with the Kissing Virus. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23063079. [PMID: 35328502 PMCID: PMC8955656 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23063079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Z-DNA binding protein (ZBP1) very much represents the nuclear option. By initiating inflammatory cell death (ICD), ZBP1 activates host defenses to destroy infectious threats. ZBP1 is also able to induce noninflammatory regulated cell death via apoptosis (RCD). ZBP1 senses the presence of left-handed Z-DNA and Z-RNA (ZNA), including that formed by expression of endogenous retroelements. Viruses such as the Epstein–Barr “kissing virus” inhibit ICD, RCD and other cell death signaling pathways to produce persistent infection. EBV undergoes lytic replication in plasma cells, which maintain detectable levels of basal ZBP1 expression, leading us to suggest a new role for ZBP1 in maintaining EBV latency, one of benefit for both host and virus. We provide an overview of the pathways that are involved in establishing latent infection, including those regulated by MYC and NF-κB. We describe and provide a synthesis of the evidence supporting a role for ZNA in these pathways, highlighting the positive and negative selection of ZNA forming sequences in the EBV genome that underscores the coadaptation of host and virus. Instead of a fight to the death, a state of détente now exists where persistent infection by the virus is tolerated by the host, while disease outcomes such as death, autoimmunity and cancer are minimized. Based on these new insights, we propose actionable therapeutic approaches to unhost EBV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Herbert
- InsideOutBio, 42 8th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Faculty of Computer Science, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.F.); (M.P.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Aleksandr Fedorov
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Faculty of Computer Science, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.F.); (M.P.)
| | - Maria Poptsova
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Faculty of Computer Science, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar, 101000 Moscow, Russia; (A.F.); (M.P.)
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Liu M, Cui Y, Zhang Y, An R, Li L, Park S, Sugiyama H, Liang X. Single base-modification reports and locates Z-DNA conformation on a Z-B-chimera formed by topological constraint. BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN 2022. [DOI: 10.1246/bcsj.20210400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mengqin Liu
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China
| | - Yixiao Cui
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China
| | - Yaping Zhang
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China
| | - Ran An
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266235, P. R. China
| | - Lin Li
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China
| | - Soyoung Park
- Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, 3-1, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Sugiyama
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Xingguo Liang
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266235, P. R. China
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