# DEFINITION OF AUTOIMMUNE RESPONSES IN POLYMYOSITIS

> **NIH NIH R01** · OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION · 1989 · $96,436

## Abstract

The inflammatory myopathies are a heterogeneous group of diseases
which have been suspected of having an autoimmune basis.  Intensive
work in the past ten years in our laboratory, as well as others,
has revealed the presence of disease specific antibodies which
relate certain autoantibodies to specific disease subsets.  Thus,
antibodies to Jol (histidyl tRNA synthetase) occur principally in
polymyositis associated with interstitial lung disease.  Antibodies
to other translation related proteins (as yet of unidentified
function) also seem to be associated with this clinical picture.
Antibodies to Mi2, a nuclear antigen of unknown function occur
primarily in patients with dermatomyositis while antibodies to Pm-
Scl, a nucleolar antigen, occur in patients most frequently with
polymyositis-scleroderma overlap.

We propose to build on these findings by improving the immunoassays
for these serological reactions, determining the molecular
structure and function of the antigens, and further determining the
clinical diagnostic specificity of these reactions.  The
relationship of the titer of these antibodies to the severity and
activity of the disease will also be studied.  In addition,
systematic HLA studies will be performed so that genetic factors
related to specific autoantibody production can be ascertained.

Finally, the hypothesis that infection with picornaviruses may be
an important initiating event in these diseases will be explored
by determining if 1) autoantibodies to translation related proteins
can bind picornaviral RNA in immunoprecipitation studies and
conversely if 2) convalescent sera from patients with picornavirus
infection can inhibit translation related proteins which are known
to be targets of autoimmunity in polymyositis patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3156232
- **Project number:** 5R01AR032214-05
- **Recipient organization:** OKLAHOMA MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
- **SAM.gov UEI:** NGCNCJ1X6XA4
- **Principal Investigator:** Morris Reichlin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $96,436
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1983-04-01 → 1993-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3156232

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3156232, DEFINITION OF AUTOIMMUNE RESPONSES IN POLYMYOSITIS (5R01AR032214-05). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3156232. Licensed CC0.

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