Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease affecting joints which is hallmarked by the presence of autoantibodies against citrrulianted protein (ACPA). This thesis describes the phenotypic... Show moreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease affecting joints which is hallmarked by the presence of autoantibodies against citrrulianted protein (ACPA). This thesis describes the phenotypic and functional characteristics of ACPA-expressing autoreactive B cells which suggest potential pathologic roles of these B cells in RA pathogenesis. The thesis also describes strategies to specifically deplete ACPA-expressing B cells to improve current RA therapeutic options. Show less
The inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (IEDDA) pyridazine elimination emerged in 2013 as a new bioorthogonal reaction and constitutes a prime example of what is now known as dissociative... Show moreThe inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (IEDDA) pyridazine elimination emerged in 2013 as a new bioorthogonal reaction and constitutes a prime example of what is now known as dissociative bioorthogonal chemistry. The research described in this Thesis aims to develop synthetic strategies which enable the IEDDA pyridazine elimination to be applied as a versatile toolbox in chemical biology studies. More specifically, it entails modification of antigenic (MHC-I) peptides and (CD1d) glycolipids with a trans-cyclooctene (TCO) moiety to allow chemical control over the recognition of these biomolecules by immune cells. Synthetic advances which encompass the entire scope of the IEDDA pyridazine elimination are additionally described. Show less
This thesis describes the use of bioorthogonal proteins in immunological settings. It provides an introduction towards the field of protein modification, which was used throughout the thesis for... Show moreThis thesis describes the use of bioorthogonal proteins in immunological settings. It provides an introduction towards the field of protein modification, which was used throughout the thesis for the expression of proteins containing unnatural amino acids. It challenges this protein expression and the subsequent purification. With this successfully challenged, the use of the protein was assessed in antigen activation studies. It was analyzed whether the unnatural amino acids were tolerated by the T cell receptor and the ligation handles of the unnatural amino acids were subsequently used for visualization purposes. Furthermore, this thesis describes the possible use of azido HRP as a new tool for immunohistology. Show less
