Sjögren's syndrome: a forty-year scientific journey.

My long scientific journey studying as a disease model Sjogren's syndrome (SS) gave me the opportunity to uncover the mysteries of systemic autoimmune diseases. After an extensive training, under the supervision of the major autoimmune disease investigators, I was able to convey and expand the acquired knowledge through inspiring my students and collaborators. Our research enriches the understanding of the wide clinical spectrum of the syndrome and the clinical, laboratory and molecular events predicting or being responsible for lymphomagenesis. Our molecular and cellular studies indicated that the target of autoimmunity in SS, the activated glandular epithelial cells, play significant role in the initiation and perpetuation of the autoimmune process. Furthermore, discovery of the epitopes on autoantigens where the autoimmune humoral reactivity is directed against, provided us tools to develop specific and sensitive diagnostic assays, to unmask similarities of the epitope sequence with infectious agents and gave us the potential to use them as therapeutic modalities.