Journal
IMMUNITY
Volume 15, Issue 4, Pages 591-601Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/S1074-7613(01)00212-6
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We earlier proposed that a human endogenous retroviral (HERV) superantigen (SAg) IDDMK(1,2)22 may cause type I diabetes by activating autoreactive T cells. Viral infections and induction of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) are tightly associated with the onset of autoimmunity. Here we establish a link between viral infections and IFN-alpha -regulated SAg expression of the polymorphic and defective HERV-K18 provirus. HERV-K18 has three alleles, IDDMK(1,2)22 and two full-length envelope genes, that all encode SAgs. Expression of HERV-K18 SAgs is inducible by IFN-alpha. and this is sufficient to stimulate V beta7 T cells to levels comparable to transfectants constitutively expressing HERV-K18 SAgs. Endogenous SAgs induced via IFN-alpha by viral infections is a novel mechanism through which environmental factors may cause disease in genetically susceptible individuals.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available