title: Anti-Sm B cell tolerance and tolerance loss in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: Autoimmunity is a serious health problem and understanding the maintenance and loss of tolerance to self-antigens are key issues in developing new therapeutic strategies to treat these diseases. Despite considerable progress toward understanding B cell tolerance and tolerance loss, much remains unknown, particularly regarding B cells specific for antigens targeted in disease. Our interest in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a B cell-mediated autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies to numerous nuclear antigens, is focused on understanding B cell tolerance and tolerance loss to the SLE-specific autoantigen Sm in mice and humans. Our work aims to provide the cellular and molecular underpinnings for the development of rational therapies to target autoreactive B cells in human SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. shl@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Stephen H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins