title: Initiation of autoimmunity.
abstract: It has recently become clear that several factors must coincide for the initiation of autoimmunity. At minimum, these involve a genetic predisposition, naive lymphocytes that can react with autoantigens and a precipitating event that leads to T and/or B cell activation. Inter-individual variations in these factors probably explain the significant complexity associated with autoimmune diseases; however, quantitative issues are also important because clinical disease will manifest only if a sufficient amount of cellular material has been destroyed. Therefore, the presence of autoreactive lymphocytes does not always signify disease; rather, the kinetics of their generation, their resulting numbers and the regulation of their activation and effector functions (destructive versus regulatory) will determine the ultimate outcome and make the difference between subclinical autoimmunity and disease.
authors.affiliation: Immune Regulation Laboratory, Department of Developmental Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 10355 Science Center Drive, San Diego, California 92121, USA. christen@liai.org
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Christen
authors.forename: Matthias G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: von Herrath
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000378:metabolism; D012307:Risk Factors; D017634:Self Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations