Hot spots in Topo protein drive shared autoimmune responses in scleroderma patients

Erika Darrah and Eleni Tiniakou identified “hot spots” in the Topo protein that are targeted by the immune system in scleroderma patients with different genetic backgrounds, which may help us understand why the immune system attacks healthy tissues in this autoimmune disease. Their research was featured on the Johns Hopkins Rheumatology website.

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Tiniakou E, Fava A, McMahan ZH, Guhr T, O'Meally RN, Shah AA, Wigley FM, Cole RN, Boin F, Darrah E. Definition of Naturally Processed Peptides Reveals Convergent Presentation of Autoantigenic Topoisomerase I Epitopes in Scleroderma. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020 Aug;72(8):1375-1384.

doi: 10.1002/art.41248.
PMID: 32162841; PMCID: PMC7486267.