Structural Patterns in Anti-DNA Antibodies from MRL/lpr Mice

Abstract

Antibodies that bind native DNA (anti-dsDNA) are a characteristic of the human autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and a mouse model for this disease, the MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) strain (Tan et al. 1966; Arana and Seligmann 1967; Dixon et al. 1971; Notman et al. 1974; Pisetsky et al. 1982). High titers of anti-dsDNA are correlated with disease activity, and these autoantibodies may account for certain SLE symptoms such as renal lesions (Tan et al. 1966; Harbeck et al. 1973; Winfield et al. 1977; Morimoto et al. 1982; Datta et al. 1986; Pankewycz et al. 1987; Raz et al. 1989).