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. 2025 Jun 7:11:100295.
doi: 10.1016/j.jtauto.2025.100295. eCollection 2025 Dec.

The 'autoimmunome' of centenarians

Pedro Carrera-Bastos  1   2   3 , Abel Plaza-Florido  4 , Alejandro Santos-Lozano  5   6 , Vânia Borba  7 , Gabriel Rodríguez-Romo  8   9 , Celia García-Chico  5 , Simone Lista  5 , Gonzalo Saco-Ledo  10 , Enzo Emanuele  11 , Yehuda Shoenfeld  12   13 , Alejandro Lucia  10
Affiliations

The 'autoimmunome' of centenarians

Pedro Carrera-Bastos et al. J Transl Autoimmun. .

Abstract

Objective: To identify signature proteins potentially linked to resistance to autoimmunity in the blood of centenarians.

Methods: We conducted in silico data mining of previously published proteomic results using the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) and PHENOPEDIA databases.

Results: Sixteen autoimmune disease-related proteins were identified within the proteomic signatures of centenarians. Albumin was the most connected hub protein, notably elevated in centenarians compared to younger controls, suggesting a protective role. Eight of the identified autoimmunity-related proteins-ADIPOQ, C1S, C5, C7, C9, CFD, MASP1, and SERPING1-were associated with the complement system.

Conclusion: Elevated albumin levels and a prominent complement system presence in centenarians' blood proteome may contribute to resistance to autoimmunity, highlighting potential protective mechanisms against autoimmune diseases in extreme longevity.

Keywords: Aging; Autoimmunity; Centenarians; Complement system; Longevity; Protein-protein interaction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Alejandro Lucia and Celia Garcia-Chico received research support from the World Cancer Research Fund and the European University Miguel de Cervantes, respectively. This support did not influence the design, analysis, or interpretation of the current study.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of centenarians, comprising 118 nodes (disconnected nodes are hidden) and 81 edges (expected = 6, PPI enrichment p < 1.0 x 10−16), with an average node degree of 1.38 and an average local clustering coefficient of 0.335. Colored nodes indicate proteins potentially associated with autoimmune diseases: green (identified only via Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) functional annotation), violet (identified only in the PHENOPEDIA database), orange (identified in both databases), and pink (protein with the highest node degree).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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