Activation of Peptidylarginine Deiminase in the Salivary Glands of Balb/c Mice Drives the Citrullination of Ro and La Ribonucleoproteins

Figure 7

Expression and citrullination of Ro60 and La ribonucleoproteins under stimulation, by Western blot analysis. (a) Graphs show net intensity normalized for the corresponding Ro60, and La bands show a moderate increase of Ro60 induced by ATP ( by t-test). La ribonucleoprotein also shows discrete changes regarding its own control without stimulants. (b) Western blots of Ro60, La ribonucleoproteins, and β-actin (control protein). (c) Superior panel shows immunoprecipitation assays of citrullinated proteins blotted and probed with anti-Ro or anti-citrulline. Positive bands at 60 kDa (left) and 48 kDa (right) were marked, and membranes were then stripped and reprobed with an anti-Ro60 (left inferior panel) and anti-La (right inferior panel). It is evident that Ro60 had a wide citrullination process specially by ATP and IFNγ stimulation. Immunoprecipitates of La ribonucleoprotein display faint citrullination signal under ATP stimulation.

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