학술논문
How Promiscuity Promotes Tolerance: The Case of Myasthenia Gravis.
Document Type
Article
Author
Source
Subject
*MYASTHENIA gravis
*THYMUS
*CHOLINERGIC receptors
*T cells
*GENE expression
*GENETICS of autoimmune diseases
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Language
ISSN
0077-8923
Abstract
Central T cell tolerance in the thymus plays a nonredundant role in preventing organ-specific autoimmunity. This role is largely attributable to promiscuous expression of tissue-restricted auto-antigens in medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs). The nascent T cell repertoire is exhaustively screened for potential autoreactivity against these ligands presented by mTECs. Failure of this screening process can result in organ-specific autoimmune diseases affecting single or multiple organs. Here we discuss how promiscuous expression of the acetylcholine receptor α-chain in the human thymus can potentially affect self-tolerance toward this well characterized auto-antigen and thus influence the disease course of myasthenia gravis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]