Antigens autoantigens

Autoimmune diseases. Disorders that are characterized by (i) the production of autoantibodies or immune effector cells that are autoreactive to self-peptides and (ii) pathological changes (e.g. tissue infiltration, damage, and/or dysfunction) that resulted from these immune responses against self-antigens ( - autoantigens). 

Autoimmunity. Inappropriate reaction of the immune system against the organism s own antigens ( - autoantigens) that may be either destructive or non-destructive. Destructive autoimmunity is associated with the development of autoimmune diseases. 

It is clear that generated by such a random process the initial repertoire of antigen specifity in all individuals of human beings should be quite similar. This implies that initially in each individal there develop lymphocytes which recognize antigens of this very individual, i.e. autoantigens. 

During differentiation of T- or B-lymphocytes antigen recqrtors are generated which react to self or autoantigens. These are generally eliminated by the mechanisms of central tolerance or kept silent by the mechanisms of peripheral tolerance ( autoimmune disease). 

Antigen arrays, also described as reverse-phase protein arrays (Paweletz et al., 2001), involve the immobilization of proteins to serve as bait for various protein-protein interactions (Sreekumar and Chinnaiyan, 2002). For example, Joos et al. (2000) printed down various autoantigens present in sera with known associations with various autoimmune diseases such as Graves disease lupus connective tissue disease, and others. The group then screened various sera for the presence of autoantibodies. By immobilizing on the array a serial dilution series for each antigen, the titers for these antibodies could be determined. 

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic disease characterized by a wide variety of autoantibodies leading to highly heterogeneous clinical manifestations. The target antigens of these autoantibodies include autoantigens in... 

Increased autoantigen translocation in skin after UV radiation Increased apoptotic waste-containing autoantigens Defect of early components of classic pathway of complement system Exposure to environmental antigens with molecular mimicry... 

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