Objective To analyze the clinical and immunologic manifestations of antiphospholipid
syndrome (APS) in a large cohort of patients and to define patterns of disease expression. …

Tissue transglutaminase (TGase2) is a protein-crosslinking enzyme known to be associated
with the in vivo apoptosis program. Here we report that apoptosis could be induced in …

Anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA) have recently emerged as sensitive and
specific serological markers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), providing superior alternative of the …

Current classification criteria for definite Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) require the use
of three laboratory assays to detect antiphospholipid antibodies (aCL, anti-β2GPI and LA) in …

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a potent stimulus of connective tissue accumulation,
and is implicated in the pathogenesis of scleroderma and other fibrotic disorders. Smad3 …

Objective In fibroblasts, transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) stimulates collagen synthesis
and myofibroblast transdifferentiation through the Smad intracellular signal transduction …

OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Endothelial dysfunction often precedes manifest atherosclerosis. We assessed …

Standardized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for anticardiolipin (aCL) and
anti–2-glycoprotein I (anti-2GPI), though required for diagnosis of the antiphospholipid …

Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) have recently emerged as sensitive and
specific serological markers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), providing superior alternative of the …

According to new hypotheses, extracellular heat shock proteins (Hsps) may represent an
ancestral danger signal of cellular death or lysis-activating innate immunity. Recent studies …