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KMID : 0613820030130020236
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Journal of Life Science
2003 Volume.13 No. 2 p.236 ~ p.240
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The Etiological Relationship between Autoimmune Diseases and HERVs
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Jeong A-Ram
Kim Hee-Soo
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Abstract
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Human immune system acts to protect the host from infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites) and from other noxious insults. However, immune diseases are sometimes caused by the impairment of immune system leading to abnormal immune response. Especially, autoimmune diseases are very diverse and often bring serious damage. Although many active investigations to reveal the etiological mechanisms concerning the autoimmune diseases, it still remains unclear. After proposing a HERV (human endogenous retrovirus) as a candidate autoimmune gene in type I diabetes, it is newly attracting our attention for demonstrating that an endogenous human retroviral superantigen can be transactivated by interferon-α (IFN-α) or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. These might provide us with powerful clues to carry out further studies to overcome autoimmune diseases as the presentation of a relatively clear connection between endogenous superantigens and human diseases.
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KEYWORD
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autoimmune diseases, HERV elements, superantigen
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