Autoantibodies to apolipoprotein A-1 as a biomarker of cardiovascular autoimmunity

Figure 3 Autoantibodies against apolipoprotein A-1 IgG elicit a pro-inflammatory response through Toll-like receptor 2/CD14 complex on human macrophages. Autoantibodies against apolipoprotein A-1 (anti-apoA-1) IgG specifically bind to Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 due to conformational homology between apoA-1 and TLR2. In the presence of CD14, the binding of anti-apoA-1 IgG to TLR2 induces a nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB)-dependent production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. MMP-9: Matrix-metalloproteinases; IL-8: Interleukin-8.