Heat shock proteins in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: keys for understanding remitting arthritis and candidate antigens for immune therapy.
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is in a majority of the cases of self-limiting, and sometimes even a self-remitting, disease. A growing amount of data suggests that active T cell regulation determines, at least partly, the clinical outcome of JIA. In experimental models of arthritis, a group of highly conserved microbial proteins, heat shock proteins (hsps), can be used to effectively prevent and treat arthritis. This protection is mediated through the induction of cross-reactive T cell responses to self-hsps. In JIA, naturally occurring T cell immune responses to hsps are associated with disease remission in restricted oligoarticular JIA. Moreover, those responses are associated with the induction of T cells with a regulatory phenotype. Taken together, these data imply that immune modulation with hsps can be an effective way to restore natural occurring T cell responses, and, thus, treat JIA and rheumatoid arthritis.
Prakken
Berent
B
Department of Pediatric Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, University Hospital for Children and Youth, PO Box 85090, Utrecht 3508 AB, The Netherlands. b.prakken@wkz.azu.nl
Kuis
Wietse
W
van Eden
Willem
W
Albani
Salvatore
S
D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000276:immunology; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins