Western blot analysis for the detection of serum antibodies recognizing linear Aquaporin-4 epitopes in patients with Neuromyelitis Optica

Abstract

This paper presents a western blot assay showing good sensitivity (81%) and specificity (97%) for detecting serum antibodies to Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in patients with Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO). By using western blot, we were able to distinguish serum immunoreactivity against either of the two AQP4 isoforms, showing that antibodies recognizing the linear AQP4-M1 isoform are specific for NMO.

Keywords

• Aquaporin-4
• Neuromyelitis Optica
• AQP-4 antibodies
• multiple-sclerosis
• water channel
• anti-aquaporin-4 antibody
• diagnostic-criteria
• arrays
• marker
• assay
• igg
• nmo