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Breaking of tolerance to native DNA in nonautoimmune mice by immunization with natural protein/DNA complexesDepartment of Immunology, Stefan Angelov Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Department of Immunology, Stefan Angelov Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Department of Pathology, Sofia Medical School, Sofia, Bulgaria
Department of Immunology, Stefan Angelov Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, vassilev{at}microbio.bas.bg A major event in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the breaking of tolerance to native DNA and the appearance of IgG anti-double-stranded (ds) DNA antibodies. The mechanisms of the losing of tolerance are not well understood. Continuous efforts have been made in the past to induce anti-native DNA IgG autoantibodies in non-autoimmune animals but the relevance of the approaches used to what happens in spontaneous disease is unclear. We succeeded in breaking tolerance to native DNA in nonautoimmune-prone BALB/c mice by immunization with natural DNA/protein complexes. These complexes included nucleosomes, crude commercial histone and nucleohistone preparations. The anti-dsDNA IgG response lasted for more than anyear. IgG deposition in the kidneys of the animals was repeatedly shown. As DNA-specific B cells behave in many ways as non-autoreactive B cells, we suggest that the activity of the self-reactive B lymphocytes could be selectively inhibited in a way that mimics a physiological mechanism controlling the magnitude and duration of the IgG antibody response to foreign antigens.
Key Words: anti-native DNA IgG antibodies autoimmunity immunization tolerance
Lupus, Vol. 14, No. 7,
543-550 (2005) This article has been cited by other articles:
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