| Literature DB >> 19008896 |
Pärt Peterson1, Tõnis Org, Ana Rebane.
Abstract
The negative selection of T cells in the thymus is necessary for the maintenance of self tolerance. Medullary thymic epithelial cells have a key function in this process as they express a large number of tissue-specific self antigens that are presented to developing T cells. Mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) protein cause a breakdown of central tolerance that is associated with decreased expression of self antigens in the thymus. In this Review, we discuss the role of AIRE in the thymus and recent advances in our understanding of how AIRE might function at the molecular level to regulate gene expression.Entities:
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Year: 2008 PMID: 19008896 PMCID: PMC2785478 DOI: 10.1038/nri2450
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nat Rev Immunol ISSN: 1474-1733 Impact factor: 53.106