PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Spatz, Linda A. AU - Hajtovic, Sabastian AU - Singh, Divya TI - Antibodies to a peptide derived from EBNA-1 may be a potential biomarker for SLE DP - 2018 May 01 TA - The Journal of Immunology PG - 45.2--45.2 VI - 200 IP - 1 Supplement 4099 - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/200/1_Supplement/45.2.short 4100 - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/200/1_Supplement/45.2.full SO - J. Immunol.2018 May 01; 200 AB - The Epstein Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with the autoimmune disease Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We previously demonstrated that mice injected with EBNA-1, a major nuclear protein of EBV, develop anti-dsDNA antibodies that cross-react with EBNA-1. We generated two monoclonal antibodies, 3D4 and 16D2, from EBNA-1 injected mice, and showed that they bind to both EBNA-1 and dsDNA. We also identified a peptide, PFM-15, in EBNA-1 (PQPGPLRESIVCYFM) that is recognized by 3D4 and 16D2. We hypothesize that this peptide can act as a molecular mimic of dsDNA and elicit antibodies to EBNA-1 that cross-react with dsDNA in some individuals who develop lupus. In the present study, we screened the sera of 17 lupus patients and 19 healthy individuals to determine if they have antibodies to PFM-15. We observed a highly significant increase (p<.05) in the number of SLE patients that have antibodies to PFM-15 compared to the number of healthy individuals with these antibodies. Furthermore, statistical analysis revealed that the anti-PFM-15 test has an 80% positive predictive value for SLE suggesting potential to be used diagnostically to detect a subset of patients with lupus. We also observed that 75% of the lupus patients tested, who had antibodies to PFM-15, also had antibodies to dsDNA and a moderately strong correlation was observed between the level of antibodies to PFM and dsDNA in these patients. This is consistent with our observation that antibodies to PFM-15 cross-react with dsDNA. These studies suggest that antibodies to PFM-15 may be a useful biomarker for a subset of patients exposed to EBV who develop lupus. Future studies with a much larger cohort of patients and controls will be needed to confirm this.