Cross reactivity of archaeal chaperonin with human CCT involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis and autoimmune disease

牙周炎是一种由口腔细菌引起的传染病。除了细菌外，最近有报道称产甲烷古细菌也参与牙周炎的发病机制。古细菌具有与人类伴侣蛋白CCT同源的II族伴侣蛋白。由于序列相似，古细菌伴侣蛋白有可能成为人CCT的交叉反应抗原。我们检测了牙周炎或自身免疫性疾病患者血清对伴侣蛋白的反应性。部分患者检测到古细菌伴侣蛋白抗体和人CCT抗体。结果表明可能诱导针对II组伴侣蛋白的自身免疫反应。古生菌与人伴侣蛋白的交叉反应可能是自身免疫反应的触发因素。

Periodontitis is known to be an infectious disease caused by oral bacteria. Besides bacteria, it has recently been reported that methanogenic Archaea is also involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. Archaea possess group II chaperonin that is homologous to human chaperonin CCT. Due to the sequence similarity, archaeal chaperonin has the potential to be a cross-reactive antigen of human CCT. We examined the reactivity of sera from patients with periodontitis or autoimmune diseases to the chaperonins. Antibody to the archaeal chaperonin and human CCT was detected in some patients. The results demonstrated the possible induction of autoimmune reaction targeting the group II chaperonin. Cross reaction between the archaeal and human chaperonin may be a trigger for autoimmune reaction.