REVIEW ARTICLE Myositis-specific autoantibodies: detection and clinical associations

Abstract In recent years, the detection and character-ization of (novel) autoantibodies is becoming increasingly important for the early diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM, also indi-cated with myositis) are a group of systemic autoimmune disorders that involve inflammation and weakness of skeletal muscles. One of the hallmarks is the infiltration of inflammatory cells in muscle tissues. A number of myosi-tis-specific autoantibodies have been identified and these may be associated with distinct IIM subclasses and clinical symptoms. Here, we review all myositis-specific autoanti-bodies identified today as well as their target proteins, together with their clinical associations in IIM patients. Post-translational modifications that might be associated with the generation of autoantibodies and the development of the disease are discussed as well. In addition, we describe well established autoantibody detection tech-niques that are currently being used in diagnostic labora-tories, as well as novel multiplexed methods. The latter techniques provide great opportunities for the simultaneous detection of distinct autoantibodies, but may also contrib-ute to the identification of novel autoantibody profiles, which may have additional diagnostic and prognostic value. The ongoing characterization of novel autoantibody specificities emphasizes the complexity of processes involved in the development of such autoimmune diseases