New PEPperCHIP® Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Microarray for RA Research

With 0.5 to 1% of adults, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most frequent autoimmune disorders. A significant progress of serological RA diagnosis was based on antibodies to citrullinated protein antigens (ACPAs) and particularly to synthetic cyclic citrullinated peptides with specificities of nearly 98% and a sensitivity of ~80%.

For a better understanding on possible causes of rheumatoid arthritis, a differentiation of RA patient groups and also the identification of new prognostic ACPAs, we developed the PEPperCHIP^® Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Microarray with 337 different cyclic citrullinated peptides including the corresponding arginine controls for a high throughput screening of ACPA responses in patient serum.

The PEPperCHIP^® Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Microarray is based on epitopes of the Immune Epitope Database and literature and covers 577 different cyclic peptides printed in duplicate including additional control peptides. It enables up to 5 tests per microarray and the analysis of up to two antibody isotypes (e.g. IgG vs. IgM) at once.