Molecular mimicry in the MHC: hidden clues to autoimmunity?
The term 'molecular mimicry' has been used to describe a spectrum of antigenic crossreactivities thought to underlie autoimmune disease. For T-cell crossreactivities to occur, appropriate T-cell clones must be available. Here, Harold Baum, Huw Davies and Mark Peakman speculate that an important source of self-peptides that govern thymic selection of such clones are MHC molecules themselves.
Baum
H
H
Division of Life Sciences, King's College London, UK.
Davies
H
H
Peakman
M
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D003429:Cross Reactions; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D006801:Humans; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens