B cell/antibody tolerance to our own antigens

Frontiers in Bioscience : a Journal and Virtual Library
Nicholas R StC Sinclair

Abstract

The lymphoid system normally mounts damaging responses to infectious pathogens while avoiding equally damaging responses to self. A notable number of antibodies to self antigens are formed but normally remain at levels below the damaging threshold, only temporarily rising to damaging levels during protective responses against infectious nonself. Many mechanisms regulate the level of autoantibodies and anti-self B cells including deletion, anergy, ignorance for antigen, receptor editing, coinhibition, competition for resources to sustain B cell responses, and apoptotic denouement of damaging responses following the ejection or containment of foreign invaders. While infectious events may encourage immune responses to self antigens, infectious events tend also to strengthen regulatory mechanisms. When regulatory mechanisms do not function properly, abnormal damaging responses to self antigens may occur. While defects in a single regulatory mechanism may result in autoimmunity, this eventuality usually happens only on permissive genetic backgrounds; this indicates that weakness in other regulatory mechanisms may be necessary to result in the emergence of damaging responses to self antigens. The immune system and its regulatory mech...Continue Reading

Citations

Oct 22, 2016·Hepatology : Official Journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases·Peter LundbäckHelena Erlandsson Harris

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