Our goal is to identify target antigens and study the potential pathogenic role of autoantibodies directed against endothelial cells (Figure 1) or vascular smooth muscle cells in vascular diseases including vasculitis involving large vessels such as the Horton disease (Figure 2), arterial pulmonary hypertension and systemic sclerosis.

Legend: Anti-centromere antibodies are detected by indirect fluorescence on HEp-2 cells (upper left panel). Kidney biopsy in a patient with renal crisis depicting vascular remodeling (lower left panel). Novel targets of autoantibodies were identified using a 2-dimensional immunoblotting technique combined with mass spectrometry (right panel).