title: Clues to the etiology of autoimmune diseases through analysis of immunoglobulin genes.
abstract: The role of autoantibodies in the etiology of autoimmune diseases remains unclear. However, an examination of the sequences of these autoantibodies can be informative. Antibody sequences that violate constraints normally imposed during ontogeny and during development point to a failure of regulation. The existence of clonally related sequences indicates that production of these antibodies may frequently be driven by self-antigen. A better understanding of the mechanisms that normally constrain the composition of the antibody repertoire and of the nature of the inciting and/or driving antigens may yield new insights into both the pathogenesis and potential treatment of these crippling diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology,Wallace Tumor Institute 378, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Link
authors.forename: Harry W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Schroeder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens