Protéomique et hépatites auto-immunes : techniques et résultats

Summary Identification of autoantibodies targets is of importance for both physiopathology discussion and analytical research with the recent development of multiplexing system like Luminex ® technology, built on flow cytometry or antigen biochip immunoassay. A new technique for antigen identification uses the proteomic analysis, which focuses on genes products, with their posttranslational modifications. Indeed, protein maturation can play an important role in epitopes generation. The purpose of this study is to review the main techniques for autoantigens identification, with a special development for the serological proteome analysis, combination of two-dimensional electrophoresis, immunoblotting assay, image analysis and mass spectrometry identification of interest immunoreactive spots. These techniques will be illustrated through identifications of the main autoantigens found in autoimmune hepatitis.