Post Translational Modification and its pathologic association in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A brief perspective.

Post Translational Modification (PTM) is the process in which covalent addition of functional groups on protein happens to maintain their structure, function and stability. Every PTM process in our living system happens to increase the functional diversity of protein. But sometimes it happens without any regulation and occurrence of this specific change in proteins are leading to autoimmunity. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one such chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease that affects joints. Proper treatment can be manageable for RA, but it is not completely curable. Delayed diagnosis of RA can cause severe bone pain, stiffness, inflammation, redness in joints and affect other parts of the body such as liver, kidney etc. Early diagnosis of disease is preferable to cure it effectively. Currently, Rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated cyclic peptide (Anti-CCP) are considered as biomarkers to diagnose RA. Other than citrullination several other PTM's are also involved in generation of autoantibodies such as, carbamylation, glycosylation, glycation, acetylation, ubiquitination, proteolysis, phosphorylation, lipidation. Aim of this review is to elucidate several considerable changes in form, nature and function of above PTMs in RA, affecting joints and day to day life. This review will give a recent overview on the role of PTMs in the pathogenesis of RA, focusing on the modifications.