Molecular mechanism in Sjogren's syndrome

为了阐明干燥综合征（Sjogren’s syndrome， SS）的发生机制，采用分子生物学技术对浸润于唇唾液腺、泪腺和肾间质的T细胞中的T细胞受体（T cell receptor， TCR）基因进行了分析。结果表明，器官t细胞在HLA分子背景下识别抗原，提示抗原驱动刺激。此外，唾液腺中T细胞抗原已通过多种方法在氨基酸水平上进行了检测。我们得到了以下两个发现。1)唾液腺a型淀粉酶是唾液腺T细胞识别的腺体特异性自身抗原。2)唾液腺T细胞的一个表位是a-淀粉酶的NPFRPWWERYQPV （AA68-80）。在不久的将来，自身反应性T细胞可能通过接种a-淀粉酶的类似肽而被诱导进入能量状态，从而以抗原特异性的方式调节SS。

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the mechanism in the generation of Sjogren's syndrome (SS), T cell receptor (TCR) genes in T cells infiltrating in labial salivary glands, lacrymal glands, and interstitium of kidneys have been analyzed by molecular biology technology. The results showed thatT cells in organs recognized antigens in the context of HLA molecule, suggesting the antigen-driven stimulation. Moreover, the antigens for T cells in salivary glands have been examined by several methodsatthe level ofamino acids. We have obtained the following two findings. 1) Salivary type a-amylase function as gland-specific autoantigen recognized by T cells in the salivary glands. 2) One of T'cell epitopes of T cells in salivary glands is NPFRPWWERYQPV (AA68-80) of a-amylase. In near future, autoreactive T cells might be induced into anergy by the vaccination of analog peptides of a-amylase, resulting in the regulation of SS in the antigen-specific fashion.