Patent ID: 6232522
Filing Date: 2001-05-15
Classification: A01K,A61K,C07K,C12N,G01N,Y02A

Abstract:
A method to generate an animal model of systemic lupus erythematosus comprisingimmunizing a non-human mammalian animal with a first non-immunoglobulin peptide comprising at least eight amino acids,wherein the peptide comprises an epitope immunoreactive with an autoantibody from a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus, the epitope consisting of between four and twenty amino acids, wherein the epitope includes at least one region in an amino acid sequence obtained byidentifying in a self-antigen bound by a population of autoantibodies present at an early stage in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus those amino acid sequences of the self-antigen containing two or more regions immunoreactive with at least two autoantibodies of different epitope specificity,wherein the peptide is administered in a dosage effective to induce production of autoantibodies immunoreactive with multiple epitopes different from the epitopes present in the first immunizing peptide, thereby generating an animal model of systemic lupus erythematosus.