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Antigenic mimicry of ubiquitin by the gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis: a potential link with autoimmune disease

Overview of attention for article published in Clinical & Experimental Immunology, September 2018
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#35 of 3,908)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (95th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (95th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
4 news outlets
blogs
4 blogs
twitter
26 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page

Citations

dimensions_citation
22 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
83 Mendeley
Title
Antigenic mimicry of ubiquitin by the gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis: a potential link with autoimmune disease
Published in
Clinical & Experimental Immunology, September 2018
DOI 10.1111/cei.13195
Pubmed ID
Authors

L. Stewart, J. D. M. Edgar, G. Blakely, S. Patrick

Abstract

Ubiquitin is highly conserved across eukaryotes and is essential for normal eukaryotic cell function. The bacterium Bacteroides fragilis is a member of the normal human gut microbiota and the only bacterium known to encode a homologue of eukaryotic ubiquitin. The B. fragilis gene sequence indicates a past horizontal gene transfer event from a eukaryotic source. It encodes a protein (BfUbb) with 63% identity to human ubiquitin which is exported from the bacterial cell. The aim of this study was i) to determine if there was antigenic cross-reactivity between B. fragilis ubiquitin and human ubiquitin and ii) to determine if humans produced antibodies to BfUbb. Molecular model comparisons of BfUbb and human ubiquitin predicted a high level (99.8% confidence) of structural similarity. Linear epitope mapping identified epitopes in BfUbb and human ubiquitin that cross-react. BfUbb also has epitope(s) that do not cross-react with human ubiquitin. The reaction of human serum (n= 474) to BfUbb and human ubiquitin from the following 4 groups of subjects was compared by ELISA: 1)newly autoantibody positive patients, 2)allergen specific IgE negative patients, 3)ulcerative colitis patients and 4)healthy volunteers. We show that the immune system of some individuals has been exposed to BfUbb which has resulted in the generation of IgG antibodies. Serum from patients referred for first-time testing to an Immunology Laboratory for autoimmune disease are more likely to have a high level of antibodies to BfUbb than healthy volunteers. Molecular mimicry of human ubiquitin by BfUbb could be a trigger for autoimmune disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 26 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 83 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 83 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 14 17%
Student > Master 13 16%
Student > Bachelor 13 16%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 8%
Researcher 4 5%
Other 12 14%
Unknown 20 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 16 19%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 13 16%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 8 10%
Nursing and Health Professions 5 6%
Neuroscience 4 5%
Other 14 17%
Unknown 23 28%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 62. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 December 2023.
All research outputs
#693,280
of 25,530,891 outputs
Outputs from Clinical & Experimental Immunology
#35
of 3,908 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#14,865
of 351,470 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Clinical & Experimental Immunology
#3
of 43 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,530,891 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,908 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 351,470 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 43 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.