Investigating T cell tolerance and organ-specific auotimmunity using autoantigen deficient mice

免疫系统通常保护人体免受有害病毒和细菌等病原体的入侵。在自身免疫性疾病中，用来保护我们的相同机制被错误地瞄准了我们自己的组织。我们的研究将采用基因操纵小鼠的技术，以进一步了解这类疾病，并揭示允许免疫系统防止自身免疫攻击的正常机制。特别是，我们将获得关于一类新的淋巴细胞的信息，被称为调节性淋巴细胞，能够防止自身免疫性疾病。这种调节性淋巴细胞已在人类中被发现，是预防多种免疫介导疾病（包括自身免疫性疾病、过敏和移植排斥）的有吸引力的治疗药物。

The immune system normally protects against invasion by pathogens such as harmful viruses and bacteria. In autoimmune diseases the same mechanisms that are used to protect us are erroneously targeted to our own tissues. Our studies will employ technologies to genetically manipulate mice to further our knowledge of this class of disease and to uncover the normal mechanisms that allow the immune system to prevent autoimmune attack. In particular we will gain information on the way that a new class of lymphocytes, known as regulatory lymphocytes, are able to protect against autoimmune disease. Such regulatory lymphocytes have been identified in humans and are attractive therapeutic agents to prevent a variety of immune-mediated diseases, including autoimmune diseases, allergy and transplantation rejection.