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NEWS RELEASE
DECEMBER 22, 2008
  Editing Errors: Penn Study Finds Reduction in Antibody Gene Rearrangement in B Cells Related to Type 1 Diabetes, Lupus
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When B cells produce antibodies, self-binding or anti-self antibodies are often formed (red-colored cells). Such anti-self cells must be eliminated, either by cell death or by revising the specificity of the antibody through a process called receptor editing. When successful, receptor editing produces a B cell that is non-self binding (green-colored cell). The Penn study documented lower levels of antibody gene rearrangements in B cells from some patients with autoimmune disease, suggesting a defect in this early B-cell tolerance checkpoint.

Credit: Nina Luning Prak, M.D., Ph.D, Univeristy of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
When B cells produce antibodies, self-binding or anti-self antibodies are often formed (red-colored cells). Such anti-self cells must be eliminated, either by cell death or by revising the specificity of the antibody through a process called receptor editing. When successful, receptor editing produces a B cell that is non-self binding (green-colored cell). The Penn study documented lower levels of antibody gene rearrangements in B cells from some patients with autoimmune disease, suggesting a defect in this early B-cell tolerance checkpoint.
 


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