Activating autoimmunity

Activating autoimmunity

A dangerously mutagenic protein is targeted to a single genomic site by ssDNA, report Ronai et al. (page 181). High frequency mutation at the immunoglobulin V region improves antibody affinity and specificity as part of the adaptive immune response. AID (activation-induced cytidine deaminase), which converts deoxycytidines to deoxyuridines, initiates this mutation process. These conversions the...

A role for B cell-activating factor of the TNF family in chemically induced autoimmunity.

After exposure to subtoxic doses of heavy metals such as mercury, H-2s mice develop an autoimmune syndrome consisting of the rapid production of IgG autoantibodies that are highly specific for nucleolar autoantigens and a polyclonal increase in serum IgG1 and IgE. In this study, we observe that HgCl2 administration in susceptible mice results in the elevated production of B cell-activating fact...

Expanding the spectrum of recombination-activating gene 1 deficiency: a family with early-onset autoimmunity.

Autoimmunity, hypogammaglobulinemia, lymphoproliferation, and mycobacterial disease in patients with activating mutations in STAT3.

The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family of transcription factors orchestrate hematopoietic cell differentiation. Recently, mutations in STAT1, STAT5B, and STAT3 have been linked to development of immunodysregulation polyendocrinopathy enteropathy X-linked-like syndrome. Here, we immunologically characterized 3 patients with de novo activating mutations in the DNA bind...

[Autoimmunity].

Autoimmune diseases comprise a large, diverse group of diseases characterized by a humoral or cell-mediated immune response against the constituents of the body's own tissues. In cases in which the host is sensitized with a tissue-specific antigen, a single pathological immune reaction occurs in the target organ. In those cases in which the host is sensitized with either a single tissue nonspec...