Immunoprecipitation of melanogenic enzyme autoantigens with vitiligo sera: Evidence for cross-reactive autoantibodies to tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2)

In the present study we describe the detection of TRP-2 antibodies in vitiligo patients using in vitro S-35-labelled human TRP-2 in a radioimmunoassay. Of 53 vitiligo sera examined in the assay, three (5.9%) were found to be positive for TRP-2 antibodies. In contrast, 20 control sera, sera from 10 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and sera from 10 patients with Graves' disease were all negative. All three patients positive for TRP-2 antibodies (mean age 54 years, age range 50-63 years) had had vitiligo of the symmetrical type for more than 1 year and all of them also had an associated autoimmune disorder: Graves' disease in one and autoimmune hypothyroidism in two. In addition, antibodies to the melanogenic enzyme tyrosinase were present in their serum. To examine any immunological crossreactivity between TRP-2 and tyrosinase, the three vitiligo sera positive for TRP-2 antibodies were preabsorbed with COS-7 cell extract containing either expressed TRP-2 or tyrosinase, and subsequently used in the radioimmunoassay. These absorption studies indicated that preincubation with both proteins inhibited the immunoreactivity of the positive sera in the immunoassay using in vitro translated S-35-TRP-2. This antibody cross-reactivity suggests the humoral response to the two melanogenic enzymes in these patients may not be entirely independent.