The Molecular Biology of Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune diseases are common and often associated with considerable morbidity or - in diseases such as IDDM, myasthenia gravis and multiple sclerosis - mortality. In this volume, experts of international stature in basic science and clinical medicine with a common interest in understanding the normal and aberrant immune response present their experiences. It was their intention to fur- ther the understanding of potential clinical application of scientific observations and to help to comprehend the huge amount of results in autoimmunity research.

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Molecular Biology and Autoimmune Disease held in Athens, Greece, from April 16-20, 1989

Session I Structure and Function of Immunoglobulins and Their Genes.- Organisation and Expression of Human VH Genes.- Immunoglobulin Kappa Variable Gene Segment Usage during Ontogeny.- Session II Structure and Function of the T Cell Receptor and Its Genes.- Molecular Analysis of T Lymphocyte Recognition.- T Cell Development in T Cell Receptor Transgenic Mice.- Target Sequences and Accessibility for Chromosomal Translocations Involving T Cell Receptor Genes.- Session III Structure and Function of the MHC and Its Genes.- Structure of Human Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Genes.- Dissection of the Roles of Specific Class II Antigens and Accessory Molecules in Antigen Presentation.- The Fine Specificity of Recognition of Influenza Virus Proteins by Human Cytotoxic T Cells.- Chairman's Summing up Evolutionary Analysis of HLA Class II Polymorphisms.- Session IV Auto-Antigen Characterisation.- Molecular Genetics of Two Major Thyroid Auto-Antigens: Thyroglobulin and Thyroperoxidase.- Analysis of Auto-Antigenic Determinants of Thyroid Peroxidase Antigen, Generated Using Polymerase Chain Reaction.- Glycolipid Antigens in Type I Diabetes Mellitus and Its Long Term Complications.- On the Main Immunogenic Region of the Acetylcholine Receptor; Structure and Role in Myasthenia Gravis.- Acetylcholine Receptor-Expressing Fibroblasts.- Session V Antigen Processing and Presentation.- The Interaction between MHC Class II Molecules and Immunogenic Peptides.- Molecular Mimicry between Virus Proteins and Autoantigens in Autoimmunity.- Session VI Interaction of Auto-Antigen, MHC and T Cell Receptor.- The Advantages of Limiting the T Cell Repertoire for Antigen and MHC.- Functional Dissociation of T Cell Sites: Immunogenic, Antigenic and Pathogenic Sites.- Autoreactive Cloned T CellLines in Murine Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus.- Chairman's Summing up.- Session VII Immunogenetics and Autoimmunity.- HLA Class II Sequence Polymorphism and Autoimmunity.- HLA-DQ and Diabetes Mellitus: A Genetic and Structural Paradigm for Models of Disease Susceptibility.- A Single, Recessive, Non-MHC Diabetogenic Gene Determines the Development of Insulitis in NOD Mice.- Autoimmunity - More Than the MHC?.- Chairman's Summing up.- Session VIII Clinical and Experimental Autoimmunity.- The Idiotypic Network in Experimental Autoimmune Thyroiditis (EAT): Towards a New Conception of Autoimmune Reactivity.- Factors Affecting Diabetes in Rodent Models of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus.- Cells and Immune Processes Contributing to Pancreatic Islet Inflammation.- Synopsis of Paper Entitled: "Ir Gene Expression, Antigen Processing and Auto-Antigen Characterisation in Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System.- Mechanisms of Resistance to Autoimmune Disease Induced by T Cell Vaccination.- Session IX Clinical and Experimental Autoimmunity II.- T Cell Reactivity to Acetylcholine Receptor in Myasthenia Gravis.- Type I Diabetes as a "Mendelian" and "Regulated" Immune Process.- The Cloning Road to The TSH Receptor and Autoimmune Graves' Disease.- Thyroid Peroxidase: Studies on Autoantibody Recognition, Gene Expression and Secondary Structure Prediction.- Session X ESCI Boerhaave Lecture for 1989.- Sjogren's Syndrome, a Model to Study Autoimmunity and Malignancy.