| autograft, autogenous regulation, autogenous | |
| autoimmunity, autoimmunization, autologous |
The autoimmune regulator (AIRE) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the AIRE gene.[1] AIRE is a transcription factor expressed in the medulla of the thymus and controls the mechanism that prevents the immune system from attacking the body itself.
Each T cell attacks a foreign substances presented within a MHC molecule which it identifies with its receptor. T cells have receptors which are generated by randomly shuffling gene segments. Each T cell attacks a different substance. T cells that attack the body's own proteins are eliminated in the thymus. Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) express major proteins from elsewhere in the body (so called "tissue-specific self-antigens" - TSAs), and T cells that respond to those proteins are eliminated through cell suicide (apoptosis), thus it is thought that AIRE therefore drives negative selection.[2]
The AIRE controls the expression of those thymic epithelial cells in the medulla (inner part) of the thymus. When AIRE is defective, T cells can attack the body, resulting in autoimmune disease.
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In the thymus, the autoimmune regulator causes transcription of a wide selection of organ-specific genes that create proteins that are usually only expressed in peripheral tissues, creating an "immunological self-shadow" in the thymus.[3][4] It is important that self-reactive T cells that bind strongly to self-antigen are eliminated in the thymus (via the process of negative selection), otherwise they can later bind to their corresponding self-proteins and create an autoimmune reaction. So the expression of non-local proteins by AIRE reduces the threat of the occurrence of autoimmunity later on by allowing for the elimination of auto-reactive T cells that bind antigens not traditionally found in the thymus. Furthermore, it has been found that AIRE is expressed in a population of stromal cells located in secondary lymphoid tissues, however these cells appear to express a distinct set of TSAs compared to mTECs[5]
Research in knockout mice has demonstrated that Aire functions through initiating the transcription of a diverse set of self-antigens, such as insulin, in the thymus.[3] This expression then allows maturing thymocytes to become tolerant towards peripheral organs, thereby suppressing autoimmune disease.[4]
The AIRE gene is expressed in many other tissues as well.[6]
The autoimmune regulator is mutated in the rare autoimmune syndrome Autoimmune Polyendocrinopathy Syndrome type 1 (APS-1), also known as Autoimmune Polyendocrinopathy-Candidiasis-Ectodermal Dystrophy (APECED). Disruption of AIRE results in the development of a range of autoimmune diseases, the most common clinical conditions in the syndrome are hypoparathyroidism, primary adrenocortical failure and chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis.[7]
A gene knockout of the murine homolog Aire has created a transgenic mouse model to study the mechanism of disease in human patients.[8]
Autoimmune regulator has been shown to interact with CREB binding protein.[9][10]
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