Apoptotic and effector pathways in autoimmunity.
Programmed cell death is an important anti-autoimmune mechanism used to delete autoreactive lymphocytes and to limit the spread both of viral infections and of tissue damage caused by immune responses. However, in autoimmune diseases, activation of programmed cell death by effector mechanisms that are similar to the normal immune response leads to augmented destruction of the targeted tissues.
Chervonsky
A V
AV
Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA. avc@jax.org
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans