Diagnosis and discrimination of autoimmune Graves' disease and Hashimoto's disease using thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor-containing recombinant proteoliposomes.

Graves' disease (GD) is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid gland caused by autoantibodies against thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR). Currently, the diagnostic test for TSHR autoantibodies is based on an indirect competitive binding assay that measures the ability of TSHR autoantibodies to inhibit the binding of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to TSHR. Here, we have developed a specific and direct diagnostic method for autoantibodies in GD that incorporates immobilized TSHR-containing recombinant proteoliposomes into an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). To reduce non-specific binding of autoantibodies to recombinant proteoliposomes, we investigated the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-lipid on the binding of commercially available anti-TSHR antibodies (aTSHRAb). The incorporation of PEG-lipids into liposomes decreased non-specific binding, as compared to liposomes that did not contain PEG-lipids, and the addition of blocking reagents further decreased non-specific reactivity. aTSHRAb exhibited higher reactivity towards PEG-modified TSHR recombinant proteoliposomes than PEG-modified liposomes without TSHR (bare liposomes). Importantly, serum autoantibodies from patients with GD, which is associated with hyperthyroidism, exhibited remarkably specific binding to TSHR recombinant proteoliposomes. Serum autoantibodies from patients with Hashimoto's disease (HD), which is associated with hypothyroidism, also reacted specifically with proteoliposomal TSHR. These results suggest that immobilized TSHR recombinant proteoliposomes can serve as a direct diagnostic test for GD and HD. Furthermore, given that there is no competition test currently available for detecting autoantibodies in HD, the combination of TSHR recombinant proteoliposome ELISA and indirect competitive TSHR binding assay might be an effective way to discriminate between GD and HD.

Development of a novel preparation method of recombinant proteoliposomes using baculovirus gene expression systems.

We have developed a novel method for the preparation of 'recombinant proteoliposomes'. Membrane proteins were expressed on budded virus (BV) envelopes using baculovirus gene expression systems, and proteoliposomes were prepared by fusion of these viruses with liposomes. First, plasmid DNA containing the gene for the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) or the acetylcholine receptor alpha-subunit (AChRalpha) was co-transfected with wild type virus [Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV)] genomes into insect cells [Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9)] to obtain recombinant viruses via homologous recombination. The recombinant viruses were again infected into Sf9 cells, and the resulting BVs were shown to express TSHR and AChRalpha. Next, the fusion behaviour of AcNPV-derived BVs and liposomes was examined via a fluorescence assay, and BVs were shown to fuse with phosphatidylserine-containing liposomes below pH 5.0, the pH at which fusion glycoprotein gp64 on the virus envelope becomes active. TSHR- or AChRalpha-expressed BVs were also shown to fuse with liposomes. Finally, TSHR- and AChRalpha-recombinant proteoliposomes were immobilized on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plates, and their reactivities were examined via a general immunoassay, which showed that the recombinant proteoliposomes were fully active. These results successfully demonstrate the development of a method based on a baculovirus gene expression system for the preparation of recombinant and functional proteoliposomes.