Cabral-Marques, Otavio, Schimke, Lena F, Moll, Guido et al. · Autoimmunity reviews · 2025 · DOI
Scientists at an international conference discussed autoantibodies—immune proteins that can attack the body's own cells—that target structures called GPCRs found on many cells. These autoantibodies were once thought to be harmless side effects but are now recognized as active players in diseases including ME/CFS and long COVID. The conference brought together experts to share new ways of detecting these autoantibodies and ideas for using them as diagnostic tools and treatment targets.
This symposium report validates autoantibodies targeting GPCRs as active pathogenic factors in ME/CFS, moving beyond older views that dismissed them as epiphenomena. Recognition of RAB-GPCRs as disease modulators and potential biomarkers offers ME/CFS patients a concrete biological mechanism to study and potentially target therapeutically, supporting the legitimacy of immune-centered research in this condition.
This is a narrative evidence map and symposium summary, not a primary research study with quantitative data, so it does not prove causality between specific RAB-GPCRs and ME/CFS disease pathology. It does not establish diagnostic sensitivity/specificity, prognostic value, or treatment efficacy of RAB-GPCR-directed interventions in ME/CFS populations. The abstract does not detail sample sizes, control comparisons, or methodological rigor of the underlying studies discussed.
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Primary citation
Cabral-Marques, Otavio, Schimke, Lena F, Moll, Guido, Filgueiras, Igor Salerno, Nóbile, Adriel Leal, Adri, Anny Silva, et al. (2025). Advancing research on regulatory autoantibodies targeting GPCRs: Insights from the 5th international symposium.. Autoimmunity reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2025.103855
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-cabral-marques-2025-advancing-research,
author = {Cabral-Marques, Otavio and Schimke, Lena F and Moll, Guido and Filgueiras, Igor Salerno and Nóbile, Adriel Leal and Adri, Anny Silva and do Vale, Fernando Yuri Nery and Usuda, Júlia Nakanishi and Corrêa, Yohan Lucas Gonçalves and Albuquerque, Débora and Nava, Roseane Galdioli and Santos, Ronaldy Santana and Dias, Haroldo Dutra and Silva, Hélio Fernandes and Marconi, Pedro Batista and Catar, Rusan and Adu-Gyamfi, Michael and Wang, Pinchao and Khan, Taj Ali and Hackel, Alexander M and Leheis, Anja and Stähle, Anja and Müller, Antje and Schmidt, Carolin and Radunovic, Chiara and Adjailia, El-Baraa and Grasshoff, Hanna and Humrich, Jens Y and Menz, Jonas and Fourlakis, Konstantinos and Winziers, Maike and Jäpel, Maj and Wegner, Manuel Vincent and Lamprecht, Peter and Nieberding, Relana and Akbarzadeh, Reza and Arnold, Sabrina and Jendrek, Sebastian and Klapa, Sebastian and Augustin, Solveig and Biedermann, Sophie and Schinke, Susanne and Scheerer, Patrick and Endres, Matthias and Schulze-Forster, Kai and Paul, Friedemann and Yu, Xinhua and Sotzny, Franziska and Sakmar, Thomas P and Banasik, Miroslaw and Haghikia, Aiden and Hoffmann, Markus H and Veprintsev, Dmitry and Witte, Torsten and Dalmolin, Rodrigo J S and Ochs, Hans D and Heidecke, Harald and Scheibenbogen, Carmen and Shoenfeld, Yehuda and Riemekasten, Gabriela},
title = {Advancing research on regulatory autoantibodies targeting GPCRs: Insights from the 5th international symposium.},
journal = {Autoimmunity reviews},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1016/j.autrev.2025.103855},
note = {PubMed: 40543860},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cabral-marques-2025-advancing-research},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cabral-marques-2025-advancing-research
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