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Rheumatoid arthritis

Autoantibodies, citrullinated histones and initiation of synovitis

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 11, pages 688–689 (2015)Cite this article

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In the development of rheumatoid arthritis, which factors govern the transition from systemic autoimmunity to synovitis? A study combining findings from human disease and animal models suggests that autoantibodies to neutrophil-derived citrullinated histone 2B are important for this transition; however, a 'second hit' involving intra-articular inflammation and citrullination could also be crucial to this process.

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Figure 1: Potential model for the development of RA whereby initial development of autoimmunity is extra-articular, and joints are targeted owing to intra-articular generation of relevant antigens.

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Acknowledgements

The author's work is supported through the NIH (AI110503), the Rheumatology Research Foundation and the Walter S. and Lucienne Driskill Foundation.

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  1. Division of Rheumatology, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, 1775 Aurora Court, Mail Stop B-115, Aurora, 80045, CO, USA

    Kevin D. Deane

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  1. Kevin D. Deane
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Correspondence to Kevin D. Deane.

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The author declares no competing financial interests.

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Deane, K. Autoantibodies, citrullinated histones and initiation of synovitis. Nat Rev Rheumatol 11, 688–689 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2015.134

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