Detection of ABCA7-positive cells in salivary glands from patients with Sjögren's syndrome

ABCA7 is a member of the subfamily A of adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) proteins, and highly homologous to ABCA1, which mediates the release of cellular cholesterol and phospholipid to form high-density lipoprotein. ABCA1 and ABCA7 contain two large extracellular domains, ECD1 and 2, which are thought to be important for their functions. Interestingly, part of ECD1 of ABCA7 is deposited as an autoantigen of Sjogren's syndrome. To determine the relationship between ABCA7 and Sjogren's syndrome, an immunohistochemical study was conducted with salivary gland biopsy samples from patients with Sjogren's syndrome. ECD1 of human ABCA7 (amino acids 45–549) was expressed in Escherichia coli as a protein fused with glutathione-S-transferase and a monoclonal antibody, KM3095, was generated. KM3095-immunoreactive cells were observed in salivary glands from 10 of 18 patients with Sjogren's syndrome. Immunostaining of serial sections with the plasma cell marker NCL-PC indicated that most of the plasma cells infiltrating salivary glands of patients with Sjogren's syndrome were KM3095-immunoreactive. Although the pathological or biological significance is not clear, it will be intriguing to further examine the relationship between ABCA7 and Sjogren's syndrome.