Autoantigen-Specific B Cell Activation in FAS-Deficient Rheumatoid Factor Immunoglobulin Transgenic Mice

Abstract excerpt

In systemic autoimmune disease, self-tolerance fails, leading to autoantibody production. A central issue in immunology is to understand the origins of activated self-reactive B cells. We have used immunoglobulin (Ig) transgenic mice to investigate the regulation of autoreactive B cells with specificity for self-IgG2a (the rheumatoid factor [RF] specificity) to understand how normal mice regulate RF...