Autoimmune Diseases Require Combined Therapy of Tolerance Induction and Immunosuppression - Model Study on Alopecia Areata

    January 2014 in “ Repository KITopen (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) ”
    Ulrike Erb
    TLDR Autoimmune diseases need combined therapy of tolerance induction and immunosuppression.
    The study investigated Alopecia Areata (AA), a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease affecting hair follicles. It identified keratins as autoantigens in AA and explored the mechanism of CD44 and CD44v10 blockade. Vaccination with keratins in mice induced mild AA and increased keratin-specific T-cells. However, when applied in a tolerogenic form, it delayed AA progression by inducing anergy in keratin-specific T-cells and expanding regulatory T-cells.
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