Collective Genetic Interaction Effects and the Role of Antigen-Presenting Cells in Autoimmune Diseases.

ABSTRACT: Autoimmune diseases occur when immune cells fail to develop or lose their tolerance toward self and destroy body's own tissues. Both insufficient negative selection of self-reactive T cells and impaired development of regulatory T cells preventing effector cell activation are believed to contribute to autoimmunity. Genetic predispositions center around the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II loci involved in antigen presentation, the key determinant of CD4+ T cell activation. Recent studies suggested that variants in the MHC region also exhibit significant non-additive interaction effects. However, collective interactions involving large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) contributing to such effects are yet to be characterized. In addition, relatively little is

SUBMITTER: Woo HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5231276 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature