BR serine/threonine kinase 2: a new autoantigen in paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis

We describe a new antigen, BR serine/threonine kinase 2 (BRSK2), identified by an antibody present in the serum of a patient with limbic encephalitis and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Patient's serum immunolabeled the neuronal cytoplasm and, less intense, the neuropil of rat brain but did not immunoreact with other rat tissues with the exception of testis. Immunoblots of rat brain homogenate identified several immunoreactive bands in the range of 88-82 kDa and a weaker broad band of 47-43 kDa. Probing a rat hippocampus expression library with the patient's serum resulted in the isolation of BR serine/threonine kinase 2 (BRSK2), a protein (also know as SAD1B kinase) preferentially expressed in the brain and testis and implicated in neuronal polarization as well as synaptic development. Eluted IgG from the BRSK2 clone gave a similar immunolabeling than the patient's serum by immunohistochemistry and immunoblot of rat brain and testis. BRSK2 antibodies reacted with two SCLC from patients without paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. No anti-BRSK2 antibodies were found in the serum of 50 patients with SCLC without PNS, 19 with limbic encephalitis without onconeural antibodies, 50 with anti-Hu antibodies and several paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, including 14 with limbic encephalitis, and 160 with a variety of non-paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. Our study suggests BRSK2 may be an autoantigen involved in the pathogenesis of SCLC-associated limbic encephalitis.