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Infectious triggers for inflammatory neurological diseases

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages 455–457 (2002)Cite this article

Do autoimmune diseases develop 'spontaneously' or are they induced by environmental triggers, such as infectious agents? This is a central—and challenging—question in the autoimmunity field. A new study in this issue provides strong evidence for a virus-induced autoimmune process in a human neurological disease. (pages 509–513)

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Figure 1: Infection by HTLV-1 leads to a persistent infection of T cells and the production of antibodies to viral antigens.

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  1. Department of Cancer Immunology & AIDS Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Department of Neurology Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Kai W. Wucherpfennig

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  1. Kai W. Wucherpfennig
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Wucherpfennig, K. Infectious triggers for inflammatory neurological diseases. Nat Med 8, 455–457 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0502-455

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