COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS RELATED TO TRANSCOBALAMIN RECEPTOR AUTOANTIBODIES

COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS RELATED TO TRANSCOBALAMIN RECEPTOR AUTOANTIBODIES

Researchers at CZ Biohub SF and UCSF have developed methods and kits to detect autoantibodies targeting the transcobalamin receptor CD320, which is associated with neurological symptoms in certain patients, as well as methods to treat patients with this condition.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with various neurologic symptoms, including those associated with with the central nervous system (CNS). However, current diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency is made solely based on the measurements of B12 in the blood, which may not accurately reflect B12 levels in the brain. The inventors discovered a previously unknown autoimmune cause of vitamin B12 deficiency in the CNS; an autoantibody targeting the transcobalamin receptor (CD320), which was identified in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus. This autoantibody functionally impaired the uptake of holotranscobalamin in vitro. CD320 autoantibodies were also found in the CSF of six other patients enrolled in the study with neuroinflammatory disease and in the serum of 6% of a healthy control cohort.

Stage of Research

The inventors have developed methods to detect CD320 autoantibodies in biological samples using programmable phage display, and they have developed kits for performing these methods. They have also developed methods to treat subjects harboring CD320 autoantibodies including immunosuppressive therapies.

Applications

The detection of a transcobalamin receptor (CD320) autoantibody in a biological sample
Testing a patient’s biological sample for binding of the CD320 polypeptide or to the CD320 autoantibody wherein the subject has one or more neurological symptoms
Treatment of subjects with neurological symptoms harboring CD320 autoantibodies

Advantages