SERPA: Autoantibody profiling in POAG

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. An early diagnosis of the disease is crucial for treatment success. Mechanisms behind glaucoma pathogenesis are not completely understood, but disease related alterations in the serological autoantibody profile indicate an immunologic component. These changes in immunoreactivity may serve as potential biomarkers. Therefore, a serological proteome analysis (SERPA) approach was used to identify novel autoantibody biomarker candidates in primary open angle glaucoma. Autoantibodies in individual sera samples of glaucoma patients and control were analysed by serological proteome analysis (SERPA) using porcine trabecular meshwork (TM) tissue lysates as antigen source. Immunoblot spot intensities were computed by “Delta2D” (Decodon) and spots of interest were matched with preparative 2DE gels and identified by mass spectrometry to identify the potential autoantigens.