title: [Auto-vaccines: an immunological alternative to gene silencing].
abstract: Auto-vaccination is a procedure that recently attracted the interest of a growing number of investigators as an alternative to gene inactivation for functional studies of cytokines or other mediators. It is based on the observation that autologous cytokines cross-linked to a foreign protein or peptide are recognized by self-reactive B cells that present foreign peptides, and by doing so attract illicit help from helper T cells that recognize the foreign peptide on the self-reactive B cell MHC Class II complex. This leads to the production of antibodies reacting with self-proteins and thus to neutralization of the targeted factor. Here, we summarize the different techniques that were successful in breaking this self-tolerance and provide several examples of the functional consequences of these auto-vaccines. An additional output of auto-vaccination is the production of mouse monoclonal antibodies against mouse factors. Such antibodies have obvious advantages for long-term use in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Institut Ludwig pour la Recherche sur le Cancer et Unité de Génétique Cellulaire, Université Catholique de Louvain, 74 Avenue Hippocrate, 1200 Bruxelles, Belgique.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uyttenhove
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Snick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D054991:Autovaccines; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D007249:Inflammation; D007378:Interleukins / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D054991:Autovaccines; D016207:Cytokines; D007378:Interleukins