Anti-Non-Bilayer Phospholipid Arrangement Antibodies Trigger an Autoimmune Disease Similar to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Mice

Abstract

Anti-lipid antibodies are present in some infectious and autoimmune diseases, such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Particularly, anti-non-bilayer phospholipid arrangement (NPA) antibodies have been detected in patients with SLE, and these antibodies trigger a disease similar to human lupus in mice. NPA are lipid associations different from the lipid bilayer of cellular membranes and, since they are transient, they are not immunogenic. However, if NPA are stabilized by drugs, they induce an immune response with the production of anti-NPA antibodies, which bind to NPA on cell membranes and generate cell lysis. As a result, intracellular antigens are exposed and trigger an immune response that generates more auto-antibodies. In this chapter, we describe the formation and stabilization of NPA, the induction of B cell responses to generate anti-NPA antibodies, and the characteristics that the disease caused by these antibodies in mice shares with human lupus.