Autoantibodies to heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1 (hnRNPA1) cause altered 'ribostasis' and neurodegeneration; the legacy of HAM/TSP as a model of progressive multiple sclerosis

- HAM/TSP and MS patients develop antibodies to the RNA binding protein, heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1.
- Dysfunctional RNA binding proteins including heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1 cause neurological disease.
- Antibodies to heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1 cause its nucleocytoplasmic mislocalization and neurodegeneration.
- Antibodies to heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1 disrupt 'ribostasis' of spastin, one it its RNA binding partners

Several years following its discovery in 1980, infection with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was shown to cause HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), a disease biologically similar to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). In this manuscript, we review some of the clinical, pathological, and immunological similarities between HAM/TSP and MS with an emphasis on how autoantibodies to an RNA binding protein, heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1 (hnRNP A1), might contribute to neurodegeneration in immune mediated diseases of the central nervous system.