title: Single nucleotide polymorphisms as a prerequisite for autoantigens.
abstract: It is still elusive why certain self proteins induce an autoimmune response. One immunological hypothesis is that only modified or altered self-proteins may become a target. Thus, we asked whether such alterations may actually be genetic polymorphisms that can be revealed by analyzing sequence variability in the known human autoantigens. Indeed, we found autoantigens to contain significantly more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) than other human genes do. Our finding may offer an explanation for autoimmune responses through allogeneic exposure. Besides other contributing factors in autoimmunity, SNP may represent an essential prerequisite for the primary induction of an autoimmune response.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. stadler@mit.edu
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Stadler
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frieden
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luginbühl
authors.forename: Beda M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Stadler
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000276:immunology*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000276:immunology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000276:immunology*; D017634:Self Tolerance / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; D000939:Epitopes