Projects / Programmes
Antigenic specificity of antiphospholipid antibodies
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.01.00 |
Medical sciences |
Microbiology and immunology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B007 |
Biomedical sciences |
Medicine (human and vertebrates) |
| B001 |
Biomedical sciences |
General biomedical sciences |
immunology, autoimmunity, intermolecular interactions, antiphospholipid antibodies, proteins, phospholipids
Researchers (7)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
19209 |
PhD Aleš Ambrožič |
Microbiology and immunology |
Researcher |
2002 - 2004 |
220 |
| 2. |
00781 |
PhD Borut Božič |
Microbiology and immunology |
Head |
2002 - 2004 |
601 |
| 3. |
16362 |
PhD Saša Čučnik |
Microbiology and immunology |
Researcher |
2002 - 2004 |
386 |
| 4. |
21361 |
PhD Nataša Gašperšič |
Microbiology and immunology |
Researcher |
2002 - 2004 |
76 |
| 5. |
12154 |
PhD Maja Hojnik |
Microbiology and immunology |
Researcher |
2001 - 2002 |
45 |
| 6. |
13602 |
PhD Sonja Praprotnik |
Microbiology and immunology |
Researcher |
2002 - 2004 |
372 |
| 7. |
21943 |
Tinka Švec |
|
Researcher |
2002 - 2004 |
19 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are at present considered a heterogenous family of antibodies, comprising antibodies which bind phospholipids, antibodies directed against phospholipid binding plasma proteins alone (known as protein cofactors of aPL) and antibodies towards complexes of phospholipids with phospholipid binding plasma proteins. aPL are found in patients with autoimmune diseases where they are associated with arterial and venous thromboses, thrombocytopenia and pregnancy complications. The clinical significance of individual subtypes within the heterogeneous family of aPL is not entirely clear.
All protein cofactors of aPL have in common:
1. They are targets of the immune response.
2. They possess a high affinity for negatively charged surfaces (phospholipids in the membranes)
Beside ß2GPI, the most common protein cofactor for aPL, other possible cofactors are prothrombin, protein C, protein S, annexins and other. The physiological role of individual protein cofactors for aPL as well as their interactions with each other and with phospholipids are only partially known. The understanding of these interactions is important for the implementation of tests for aPL detection and interpretation of results.
Our hypothesis is that the intermolecular interactions between cell membrane phospholipids and protein cofactors, and interactions between the cofactors themselves are crucial to the understanding of the pathogenicity of individual aPL subtypes. The proposed project will be limited to the narrow spectrum of the protein cofactors (besides the main cofactor ß2GPI, principally prothrombin, annexin V, laminin). The molecular interactions will be studied at three experimental levels:
1. In in vitro systems on the surface of plastic microtiter plates
2. In in vitro experimental system with giant phospholipid vesicles
3. In in vitro system of cultured endothelial cells
Knowledge of intermolecular interactions between the protein cofactors of aPL and phospholipids will add to understanding the early events in the pathogenesis of venous and arterial thromboses, associated with aPL, and arteriosclerosis. Introduction of methods for determination of antibodies to annexin V and prothrombin with sufficient analytical specificity and sensitivity in our laboratory will assure achievement clinically relevant results, supporting a differential diagnostics.
