W.L. van Heerde

Proteome-wide Analysis and CXCL4 as a Biomarker in Systemic Sclerosis

BACKGROUND Plasmacytoid dendritic cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis through mechanisms beyond the previously suggested production of type I interferon. METHODS We isolated plasmacytoid dendritic cells from healthy persons and from patients with systemic sclerosis who had distinct clinical phenotypes. We then performed proteome-wide analysis and validated these observations in five large cohorts of patients with systemic sclerosis. Next, we compared the results with those in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, and hepatic fibrosis. We correlated plasma levels of CXCL4 protein with features of systemic sclerosis and studied the direct effects of CXCL4 in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS Proteome-wide analysis and validation showed that CXCL4 is the predominant protein secreted by plasmacytoid dendritic cells in systemic sclerosis, both in circulation and in skin. The mean (±SD) level of CXCL4 in patients with systemic sclerosis was 25,624±2652 pg per milliliter, which was significantly higher than the level in controls (92.5±77.9 pg per milliliter) and than the level in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (1346±1011 pg per milliliter), ankylosing spondylitis (1368±1162 pg per milliliter), or liver fibrosis (1668±1263 pg per milliliter). CXCL4 levels correlated with skin and lung fibrosis and with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Among chemokines, only CXCL4 predicted the risk and progression of systemic sclerosis. In vitro, CXCL4 down-regulated expression of transcription factor FLI1, induced markers of endothelial-cell activation, and potentiated responses of toll-like receptors. In vivo, CXCL4 induced the influx of inflammatory cells and skin transcriptome changes, as in systemic sclerosis. CONCLUSIONS Levels of CXCL4 were elevated in patients with systemic sclerosis and correlated with the presence and progression of complications, such as lung fibrosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension. (Funded by the Dutch Arthritis Association and others.).

A Dominant-Negative GFI1B Mutation in the Gray Platelet Syndrome

The gray platelet syndrome is a hereditary, usually autosomal recessive bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency of alpha granules in platelets. We detected a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding the transcription factor GFI1B (growth factor independent 1B) that causes autosomal dominant gray platelet syndrome. Both gray platelets and megakaryocytes had abnormal marker expression. In addition, the megakaryocytes had dysplastic features, and they were abnormally distributed in the bone marrow. The GFI1B mutant protein inhibited nonmutant GFI1B transcriptional activity in a dominant-negative manner. Our studies show that GFI1B, in addition to being causally related to the gray platelet syndrome, is key to megakaryocyte and platelet development.

Mechanisms and clinical implications of thrombosis in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

Summary.  Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare acquired disease characterized by a clone of blood cells lacking glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)‐anchored proteins at the cell membrane. Deficiency of the GPI‐anchored complement inhibitors CD55 and CD59 on erythrocytes leads to intravascular hemolysis upon complement activation. Apart from hemolysis, another prominent feature is a highly increased risk of thrombosis. Thrombosis in PNH results in high morbidity and mortality. Often, thrombosis occurs at unusual locations, with the Budd–Chiari syndrome being the most frequent manifestation. Primary prophylaxis with vitamin K antagonists reduces the risk but does not completely prevent thrombosis. Eculizumab, a mAb against complement factor C5, effectively reduces intravascular hemolysis and also thrombotic risk. Therefore, eculizumab treatment has dramatically improved the prognosis of PNH. The mechanism of thrombosis in PNH is still unknown, but the highly beneficial effect of eculizumab on thrombotic risk suggests a major role for complement activation. Additionally, a deficiency of GPI‐anchored proteins involved in hemostasis may be implicated.

Plasma annexin A5 and microparticle phosphatidylserine levels are elevated in sickle cell disease and increase further during painful crisis.

Expression of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the membrane surface of red blood cells and circulating microparticles (MP) plays an important role in etiology of the hypercoagulable state of sickle cell disease (SCD), as well as in the reduced red cell life span and adhesive interactions between red cells and endothelium. Annexin A5, an intracellular protein abundantly present in endothelial cells and platelets, exhibits high affinity for PS and has been shown to inhibit several of these PS-mediated pathophysiological processes. We determined plasma annexin A5 levels and MP-associated procoagulant activity, a measure of MP-PS exposure, in 17 sickle cell patients (12 HbSS and 5 HbSC) in steady state and at presentation with a painful crisis. Twenty-five HbAA blood donors served as controls. Both annexin A5 and MP-PS were highest in HbSS patients (5.7 ng/mL, IQR 3.7-7.6 and 37.9 nM, IQR 31.9-69.8) as compared to HbSC patients (1.8 ng/mL, IQR 1.7-7.6 and 20.9 nM, IQR 10.9-29.6) and healthy controls (2.5 ng/mL, IQR 1.4-4.4 and 13.1 nM, IQR 9.5-18.5) (p=0.01 and p<0.001, respectively). At presentation with a painful crisis, annexin A5 and MP-PS had increased in 16 of 17 patients (p=0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). Most interestingly, in 7 HbSS patients the proportional increase in MP-PS exposure was higher than the proportional increase in plasma annexin A5 concentration, leading to lower annexin A5/MP-PS ratio of HbSS patients during crisis than HbAA controls (0.0027 (0.0017-0.0049) vs 0.0048 (0.0027-0.0085), p=0.05). In conclusion, patients with SCD have elevated plasma levels of annexin A5- and PS-exposing MP. During crisis both levels increase, but in most HbSS patients MP-PS exposure increases more than annexin A5. Future studies must address a potential role of annexin A5 in modulating PS-related pathophysiological processes in SCD.

Annexin A5 polymorphism (−1C→T) and the presence of anti-annexin A5 antibodies in the antiphospholipid syndrome

Background: Annexin A5 is thought to have a role in the pathophysiology of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)—a syndrome characterised by recurrent thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity. Objective: To investigate whether anti-annexin A5 immunoglobulin (Ig)M or IgG antibodies, or the −1C→T polymorphism of annexin A5, is a risk factor for thrombosis or miscarriage, and whether the −1C→T polymorphism is correlated with APS. Methods: A cohort study was carried out with a population of 198 patients with primary APS, systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus-like disease. For the detection of anti-annexin A5 antibodies and the measurement of annexin A5 plasma levels, ELISA-type methods were used. The annexin A5 −1C→T mutation was detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: 71 patients were positive for annexin A5 IgM or IgG antibodies, of whom 53 patients were positive for anti-annexin A5 IgG antibodies and 27 of 198 patients were positive for anti-annexin A5 IgM antibodies. The prevalence of IgM or IgG anti-annexin A5 antibodies was not significantly associated with thrombosis or miscarriage on multivariate analysis. The prevalence of the −1C→T mutation in the annexin A5 gene (46/198 patients) was significantly associated with miscarriage (odds ratio 2.7, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 6.7, independent risk factor). Conclusion: The detection of anti-annexin A5 antibodies does not seem relevant for estimating the risk for thrombosis or miscarriage in APS. The −1C→T mutation was an independent risk factor for miscarriage, which is independent of APS.

Proteomic analysis of plasma identifies the Toll-like receptor agonists S100A8/A9 as a novel possible marker for systemic sclerosis phenotype

Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterised by fibrosis of the skin and the internal organs. Except for anticentromere, antitopoisomerase I and antipolymerase III antibodies, there are no reliable circulating markers predicting susceptibility and internal organ complications. This study has exploited a proteome-wide profiling method with the aim to identify new markers to identify SSc phenotype. Method 40 SSc patients were included for proteomic identification. Patients were stratified as having diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) (n=19) or limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) (n=21) according to the extent of skin involvement. As controls 19 healthy donors were included. Blood was drawn and plasma was stored before analysing with the SELDI-TOF-MS. For replication in serum, the cohort was extended with 60 SSc patients. Results Proteomic analysis revealed a list of 25 masspeaks that were differentially expressed between SSc patients and healthy controls. One of the peaks was suggestive for S100A8, a masspeak we previously found in supernatant of plasmacytoid dendritic cells from SSc patients. Increased expression of S100A8/A9 in SSc patients was confirmed in replication cohort compared with controls. Intriguingly, S100A8/A9 was highest in patients with limited cutaneous SSc having lung fibrosis. Conclusions S100A8/A9 was robustly found to be elevated in the circulation of SSc patients, suggesting its use as a biomarker for SSc lung disease and the need to further explore the role of TLR in SSc.

Alterations of coagulation and fibrinolysis in patients with angioedema due to C1-inhibitor deficiency

Patients with functional deficiency of C1‐inhibitor (C1‐INH) suffer from recurrent acute attacks (AA) of localized oedema associated with activation of the contact system, complement and fibrinolysis. To unravel further the role of coagulation and fibrinolysis in the pathophysiology of C1‐INH deficiency, we performed simultaneous thrombin and plasmin generation measurements in plasma from patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) due to C1‐INH deficiency during AA (n = 23), in remission (R) (n = 20) and in controls (n = 20). During AA thrombin generation after in‐vitro activation of plasma was higher than in controls, as demonstrated by shorter thrombin peak‐time (P < 0·05), higher thrombin peak‐height (P < 0·001) and increased area under the curve (AUC) (P < 0·05). Additionally, elevated levels of prothrombin fragment 1+2 (P < 0·0001) were observed in non‐activated plasma from the same patients. In contrast, in activated plasma from patients during AA plasmin generation estimated as plasmin peak‐height (P < 0·05) and plasmin potential (P < 0·05) was reduced, but non‐activated plasma of the same patients showed elevated plasmin–anti‐plasmin (PAP) complexes (P < 0·001). This apparent discrepancy can be reconciled by elevated soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) (P < 0·01) and thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) in patients during AA providing possible evidence for a regulatory effect on fibrinolysis. Plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) was reduced in patients during AA indicating, together with the observed reduction of plasmin generation, the consumption of fibrinolytic factors. In conclusion, our results support the involvement of coagulation and fibrinolysis in the pathophysiology of HAE and show the possible application of simultaneous measurement of thrombin and plasmin generation to evaluate different clinical conditions in HAE patients.

Factor VIII genotype and inhibitor development in patients with haemophilia A: highest risk in patients with splice site mutations

Summary.  The appearance of inhibitory antibodies against factor VIII (FVIII) is the most severe and costly complication of replacement therapy in patients with haemophilia A (HA). To determine the relationship between FVIII genotype and inhibitor development, baseline FVIII activity, genotype and inhibitor development were reviewed in 1104 patients with HA. In patients with severe HA, splicing errors present the highest frequency of inhibitors, ahead of inversion of intron 1 and of intron 22, nonsense mutations and large deletions. The lowest inhibitor frequency in severe HA is found in patients with missense mutations and small deletions/insertions. Subanalyses indicate that nonsense mutations and small deletions/insertions leading to a frameshift in the light chain are associated with a significant higher risk of inhibitor formation than similar mutations occurring in the heavy chain (27% vs. 14%). These mutation types also have a higher frequency of inhibitors when occurring in exons 23–26, where a second FVIII transcript originates, compared with similar mutations in exons 1–22 (28% vs. 17%). These results suggest that complete absence of FVIII because of null mutations, including splice site mutations, or the absence of a second transcript result in an increased risk of inhibitor development.

Diagnosis of factor VIII deficiency

Summary.  The correct diagnosis of factor VIII deficiency and the assessment of severity of the disease are essential for a patient‐tailored treatment strategy. An optimal diagnostic procedure comprises sensitive and specific screening methods and factor VIII activity assays. Different screening reagents show variable characteristics and receiver operator characteristic curves are presented showing the relation between sensitivity and specificity of eleven activated partial thromboplastin time reagents. The details of the three methods for factor VIII activity assay, one‐stage and two‐stage assay and chromogenic assays, are discussed. The chromogenic assay seems to be more sensitive than the one‐stage assay with regard to the detection of severe haemophilia. Discrepant results obtained with one‐stage and two‐stage assays are reviewed and discussed.

Low‐titre inhibitors, undetectable by the Nijmegen assay, reduce factor VIII half‐life after immune tolerance induction

ing complications compared with the low-dose treatment. This finding of bleeding discrepancy between the two dose regimens persisted even in the post-ITI prophylactic phase (although not significant, P = 0.088), during which the inhibitors were not detectable with the established assays [5]. In our Haemophilia Treatment Centre in Nijmegen, we also recorded an abnormal high need for FVIII supply to prevent bleedings in the early post-ITI phase with formerly inhibitorpositive patients. We hypothesized that patients in the early post-ITI phase still have low-titre inhibitors that cannot be detected with the established assays, but contribute to rapid disappearance from the circulation of FVIII. The putative lowtitre inhibitors may, therefore, be responsible for the higher bleeding risk in this stage of treatment. In order to test this hypothesis we developed a low-titre inhibitor assay that is 20 times more sensitive than the commonly used (Nijmegen) assay. The method is based on concentration of the test plasma by selective protein filtration and quantification of the inhibitor titre by a mixing assay as described below. At first, residual FVIII that may interfere with the test was removed from both the test and reference (FVIII-deficient plasma) samples by heating the plasma samples for 1.5 h at 58 � C followed by a short centrifugal step (2 min at 18 000 ·g). This procedure also inactivated all other coagulation factors. Thereafter, 0.5 mL of the supernatant plasma was centrifuged for 45 min at 4200 ·g at room temperature in an Ultra-Free � -4 centrifugal filter unit with a nominal molecular weight limit of 100 kD (Millipore � ,