We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
ZeptoMetrix an Antylia scientific company

EUROIMMUN AG

EUROIMMUN is an international provider of medical laboratory products for autoimmune, infection, allergy and molecula... read more Featured Products: More products

Download Mobile App




Novel Autoantibody Against DAGLA Discovered in Cerebellitis

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 17 Apr 2025
Print article
Image: Anti-DAGLA antibodies in cerebellitis (Photo courtesy of EUROIMMUN)
Image: Anti-DAGLA antibodies in cerebellitis (Photo courtesy of EUROIMMUN)

Autoimmune cerebellar ataxias are strongly disabling disorders characterized by an impaired ability to coordinate muscle movement. Cerebellar autoantibodies serve as useful biomarkers to support rapid disease diagnosis, but in many cases the autoantibody target has not yet been identified. Now, researchers have identified diacylglycerol lipase alpha (DAGLA) as a novel autoantibody target in patients with rapid progressive cerebellar ataxia.

The autoantibodies were characterized as part of a collaborative study between scientists at EUROIMMUN (Lübeck, Germany), the Hannover Medical School (Hannover, Germany and collaborative institutes and clinics. In this study published in the journal Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, DAGLA was identified as the autoantibody target in four young patients aged 18 to 34, who suffered from pronounced gait ataxia, dysarthria and visual impairments. In three of the four patients, severe cerebellar atrophy developed within 6 months. None of the patients had a malignancy. To identify the antigen, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the four index patients were subjected to comprehensive autoantibody screening by indirect immunofluorescence assays (IIFA). The four patients’ samples all showed a characteristic IgG reactivity with the molecular layer of cerebellum cryosections.

The autoantibodies bound exclusively to the dendrites of the Purkinje cells, whereas the somata remained unstained. Immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry were used to identify the target antigen. Results were confirmed by competitive inhibition experiments and recombinant-cell (RC) IIFA based on transfected HEK293 cells expressing DAGLA. Sera and CSF from the index patients reacted strongly positive in the anti-DAGLA RC-IIFA, whereas the control cells did not demonstrate any specific antibody binding. Sera from 101 patients with various neurological symptoms and sera from 102 healthy blood donors were additionally analyzed using the anti-DAGLA RC-IIFA. Serum reactivity against DAGLA was found in 17 disease controls and 1 healthy donor.

Epitope characterization revealed that 17 of these 18 sera reacted with a linear intracellular epitope between amino acids 583 and 1042, whereas the CSF of the index patients targeted a conformational epitope between amino acids 1 and 157. These data indicate the existence of at least two subtypes of anti-DAGLA autoantibodies targeting distinct epitopes, which should be taken into consideration in the antibody detection. The proposed testing strategy comprises RC-IIFA using full-length DAGLA protein, with confirmation of positive results using RC-IIFA based on a DAGLA 1-582 fragment. The scientists concluded that anti-DAGLA autoantibodies detected in CSF with a characteristic tissue IIFA pattern represent novel biomarkers for rapidly progressing cerebellitis. They surmised that earlier diagnosis of the associated neurological disorder followed by more aggressive and prolonged immunotherapy could inhibit dramatic disease progression.

Gold Member
Antipsychotic TDM Assays
Saladax Antipsychotic Assays
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Silver Member
Fixed Speed Tube Rocker
GTR-FS
New
TRAcP 5b Assay
TRAcP 5b (BoneTRAP) Assay

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: Professor Nicole Strittmatter (left) and first author Wei Chen stand in front of the mass spectrometer with a tissue sample (Photo courtesy of Robert Reich/TUM)

Mass Spectrometry Detects Bacteria Without Time-Consuming Isolation and Multiplication

Speed and accuracy are essential when diagnosing diseases. Traditionally, diagnosing bacterial infections involves the labor-intensive process of isolating pathogens and cultivating bacterial cultures,... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The new algorithms can help predict which patients have undiagnosed cancer (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Advanced Predictive Algorithms Identify Patients Having Undiagnosed Cancer

Two newly developed advanced predictive algorithms leverage a person’s health conditions and basic blood test results to accurately predict the likelihood of having an undiagnosed cancer, including ch... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.