3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE MAJOR AUTOANTIGEN IN PRIMARY BILIARY-CIRRHOSIS

Background & Aims: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a chronic choles tatic liver disease characterized by the presence of antimitochondrial autoantibodies in patients' serum. The major autoantigen, recognized by antibodies from >95% of patients with PBC, has been identified as t he E2 component (E2p) of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme comple x, Immunodominant sites on E2p have been localized to the inner of the two lipoyl domains, where the essential cofactor lipoic acid is attac hed covalently. The aim of this study was to determine the three-dimen sional structure of the inner lipoyl domain of human E2p. Methods: The domain was expressed in Escherichia coli; after purification, its str ucture was analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Res ults: The structure of the lipoyl domain from human E2p was determined , and the implications of the structure for autoimmune recognition wer e assessed. Conclusions: Knowledge of the structure further defines th e major epitope and may help in the design of antigen-specific immunot herapy for treatment of PBC.