Identification of galectin-3 as an autoantigen in patients with IgG4-related disease

The antigenic trigger that drives expansion of circulating plasmablasts and CD4+ cytotoxic T cells in patients with IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is presently unknown.We sought to sequence immunoglobulin genes from single-cell clones of dominantly expanded plasmablasts and generate recombinant human mAbs to identify relevant antigens in patients with IgG4-RD by using mass spectrometry.Paired heavy and light chain cDNAs from dominant plasmablast...