Studies of the genetic factors associated with human autoimmune disease suggest a multigenic origin of susceptibility; however, how these factors interact and through which tolerance pathways they operate generally remain to be defined. One key checkpoint occurs through the activity of the autoimmune regulator AIRE, which promotes central T cell tolerance. Recent reports have described a variet...

Autoimmune diseases are a diverse group of conditions characterized by aberrant B cell and T reactivity to normal constituents the host. These occur widely affect individuals all ages, especially women. Among these diseases, most prominent immunological manifestation is production autoantibodies, which provide valuable biomarkers for diagnosis, classification disease activity. Although cells ha...

The field of epigenetics requires that traditional divisions between scientific disciplines give way to cross-fertilization of concepts and ideas from different areas of investigation. Such is the case with research in autoimmunity. Recent discoveries of stimuli that induce autoimmunity reveal that epigenetic marks of autoantigens are recognized by autoreactive B and T cell receptors. Thus, ins...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether maternal BMI before pregnancy and weight gain during pregnancy predicted the risk of islet autoimmunity in genetically susceptible children. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Of 46,939 newborns screened for the high-risk HLA genotype DR4-DQ8/DR3-DQ2, 1,003 were positive and 885 were followed with serial blood samples tested for autoantibodies to insulin, GAD, and insulin...