Induction of tolerance to bullous pemphigoid autoantigen by oral administration of antigenic peptides.

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K15409
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Dermatology
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Nishie Wataru 北海道大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (20443955)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NATSUGA KEN 北海道大学, 北海道大学病院, 助教 (70645457)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 皮膚病態学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the major autoimmune blistering disease in which autoantibodies mainly target NC16A domain of collagen XVII (COL17). BP may be fatal because majority of patients are treated with systemic immmune suppressive drugs; thus, disease-specific therapies are required. In this study, we aimed at the fact that BP autoantibodies mainly target NC16A domain, and hypothesized that oral treatment with NC16A peptides may induce tolerance to COL17. We showed that oral treatment of NC16A peptides can suppress development of autoantibodies directing COL17 in mice, although statistical significance was not achieved. However, this finding must be very helpful to establish novel disaese-specific therapies for BP in the near future.

Free Research Field

皮膚科学