Autoantibodies in autoimmune thyroid disease promote immune complex formation with self antigens and increase B cell and CD4+ T cell proliferation in response to self antigens

Natural autoantibodies and complement pr

Natural autoantibodies and complement promote the uptake of a self antigen, human thyroglobulin, by B cells and the proliferation of thyroglobulin-reactive CD4+ T cells in healthy individuals

✍ Claus H. Nielsen; R. Graham Q. Leslie; Bettina S. Jepsen; Michel D. Kazatchkine; 📂 Article 📅 2001 🏛 John Wiley and Sons 🌐 English ⚖ 152 KB 👁 2 views

Serum from normal individuals contains substantial amounts of natural antibodies (NA) capable of recognizing self antigens. However, the physiological implications of this autoreactivity remain unclear. We have examined the role of self-reactive NA and complement in mediating the uptake of human thy