Strong association of dermatomyositis‐specific Mi‐2 autoantibodies with a tryptophan at position 9 of the HLA‐DRβ chain

Abstract

Our results reemphasize the specificity of Mi-2 antibodies for DM, and extend previous reports that Mi-2 antibody production is associated with certain HLA class II antigens. We propose beta 9-Trp as a candidate epitope on the HLA-DR beta chain as a prerequisite for this type of autoimmune response.