Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

The viral triggering of autoimmune disease

Evidence emerges that Coxsackie virus-induced autoimmune insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in mice may be caused by bystander activation of T cells or other mechanisms distinct from molecular mimicry (pages 781–785).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Horwitz, M.S. et al. Coxsackie virus-induced diabetes: Initiation by bystander damage and not molecular mimicry. Nature Med. 4 781–785 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Worthington, J. & Silman, A.J. Genetic control of autoimmunity, lessons from twin studies. Clin. Exp. Immunoi. 101, 390–392 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wekerle, H. Myelin-specific, autoaggressive T-cell clones in the normal immune repertoire: Their nature and their regulation. Int. Rev. Immunol. 9, 231–241 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Steinman, L Multiple sclerosis: A coordinated immunological attack against myelin in the centralnervous system. Cell 85, 299–302 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Andre, I. et al. Checkpoints in the progression of autoimmune disease: Lessons from diabetes mellitus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 2260–2263 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Berger, T. et al. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: The antigen specificity of T lymphocytes determines he topography of lesions in the central and peripheral nervous system. Lab. Invest. 76, 355–364 (1997).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Wucherpfennig, K.W. & Strominger, J.L. Molecular mimicry in T-cell mediated autoimmunity: Viral peptides activate human T-cell clones specific for myelin basic protein. Cell 80, 695–705 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Maclaren, N.K. & Atkinson, M.A. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: The hypothesis of molecular mimicry between islet cell antigens and microorganisms. Mol. Med. Today 2, 76–83 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Brocke, S. et al. Induction of relapsing paralysis in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by bacterial superantigen. Nature 365, 642–644 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Conrad, B. et al. A human endogenous retroviral superantigen as a candidate autoimmune gene in type I diabetes. Cell 90, 303–313 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Segal, B.M., Dwyer, B.K. & Shevach, E.M. An interleukin (IL)-10/IL-12 immunoregulatory circuit controls susceptibility to autoimmune disease. J. Exp. Med. 187, 537–546 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ohashi, P.S. et al. Ablation of ‘tolerance’ and induction of diabetes by virus infection in viral antigen transgenic mice. Cell 65, 305–317 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Albert, M.L. Sauter, B. & Bhardwaj, N. Dendritic cells acquire antigen from apoptotic cells and induce class I restricted CTLs. Nature 392, 86–89 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wekerle, H., Linington, C., Lassmann, H. & Meyermann, R. Cellular immune reactivity within the CNS. Trends Neurosci. 9, 271–277 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wekerle, H. The viral triggering of autoimmune disease. Nat Med 4, 770–771 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0798-770

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0798-770

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing