Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Rockefeller University Press, Journal of Experimental Medicine, 7(218), 2021

DOI: 10.1084/jem.20191766

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Antibodies against human endogenous retrovirus K102 envelope activate neutrophils in systemic lupus erythematosus

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

Full text: Unavailable

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Neutrophil activation and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are hallmarks of innate immune activation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here we report that the expression of an endogenous retrovirus (ERV) locus ERV-K102, encoding an envelope protein, was significantly elevated in SLE patient blood and correlated with autoantibody levels and higher interferon status. Induction of ERV-K102 in SLE negatively correlated with the expression of epigenetic silencing factors. Anti-ERV-K102 IgG levels in SLE plasma correlated with higher interferon stimulated gene expression, and further promoted enhanced neutrophil phagocytosis of ERV-K102 envelope protein through immune complex formation. Finally, phagocytosis of ERV-K102 immune complexes resulted in the formation of NETs consisting of DNA, neutrophil elastase, and citrullinated histone H3. Together, we identified an immunostimulatory ERV-K envelope protein that in an immune complex with SLE IgG is capable of activating neutrophils.