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Immunization with Short Peptides from the 60-kDa Ro Antigen Recapitulates the Serological and Pathological Findings as well as the Salivary Gland Dysfunction of Sjögren’s Syndrome

R. Hal Scofield^1,*,,, Sima Asfa^*, David Obeso^*, Roland Jonsson and Biji T. Kurien^*

^* Arthritis and Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK 73104; Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73109; Medical Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104; and Broegelmann Research Laboratory, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Sjögren’s syndrome is a poorly understood autoimmune inflammatory illness that affects the salivary and lacrimal glands as well as other organ systems. We undertook the present study to determine whether mice immunized with short peptides from the 60-kDa Ro (or SSA) Ag, which is a common target of the autoimmunity of Sjögren’s syndrome, develop an illness similar to Sjögren’s syndrome. BALB/c mice were immunized with one of two short peptides from 60-kDa Ro that are know to induce epitope spreading. The animals were analyzed for the presence of anti-Ro and anti-La (or SSB) in the sera by immunoblot and ELISA. Salivary glands were collected and examined by histology after H&E staining. Salivary lymphocytes were purified and studied for cell surface makers by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Timed stimulated salivary flow was measured. As reported previously, BALB/c mice immunized with 60-kDa Ro peptides developed an immune response directed against the entire Ro/La ribonucleoprotein particle that was similar to that found in humans with lupus or Sjögren’s syndrome. Functional studies showed a statistical decrease in salivary flow in immunized mice compared with controls. Furthermore, there were lymphocytic infiltrates in the salivary glands of immunized animals that were not present in controls. The infiltrates consisted of both CD4^– and CD8⁺ T lymphocytes as well as B lymphocytes. BALB/c mice immunized with 60-kDa Ro peptides develop anti-Ro, salivary gland lymphocyte infiltrates, and salivary dysfunction that is highly reminiscent of human Sjögren’s syndrome.

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