[HTML][HTML] T cells in the control of organ-specific autoimmunity

JA Bluestone, H Bour-Jordan, M Cheng… - The Journal of …, 2015 - Am Soc Clin Investig
JA Bluestone, H Bour-Jordan, M Cheng, M Anderson
The Journal of clinical investigation, 2015Am Soc Clin Investig
Immune tolerance is critical to the avoidance of unwarranted immune responses against self
antigens. Multiple, non-redundant checkpoints are in place to prevent such potentially
deleterious autoimmune responses while preserving immunity integral to the fight against
foreign pathogens. Nevertheless, a large and growing segment of the population is
developing autoimmune diseases. Deciphering cellular and molecular pathways of immune
tolerance is an important goal, with the expectation that understanding these pathways will …
Immune tolerance is critical to the avoidance of unwarranted immune responses against self antigens. Multiple, non-redundant checkpoints are in place to prevent such potentially deleterious autoimmune responses while preserving immunity integral to the fight against foreign pathogens. Nevertheless, a large and growing segment of the population is developing autoimmune diseases. Deciphering cellular and molecular pathways of immune tolerance is an important goal, with the expectation that understanding these pathways will lead to new clinical advances in the treatment of these devastating diseases. The vast majority of autoimmune diseases develop as a consequence of complex mechanisms that depend on genetic, epigenetic, molecular, cellular, and environmental elements and result in alterations in many different checkpoints of tolerance and ultimately in the breakdown of immune tolerance. The manifestations of this breakdown are harmful inflammatory responses in peripheral tissues driven by innate immunity and self antigen–specific pathogenic T and B cells. T cells play a central role in the regulation and initiation of these responses. In this Review we summarize our current understanding of the mechanisms involved in these fundamental checkpoints, the pathways that are defective in autoimmune diseases, and the therapeutic strategies being developed with the goal of restoring immune tolerance.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation