Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024141 (systemic lupus erythematosus)
 44,322 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The SmN, protein is closely related to the constitutively expressed SmB and SmB' autoantigens and can also act as a target for human autoimmune sera. In contrast to the single gene encoding SmB and SmB' which is expressed in all tissues, the distinct gene encoding SmN is expressed at high levels only in brain and heart tissue. We show that the SmN gene is transcribed at significantly elevated levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients compared to normal controls. In contrast no significant elevation in transcription of the genes encoding SmB/B' or the U1-associated 70kD RNP autoantigen is observed in these patients. The elevation in SmN gene transcription in patient PBMCs does not result however, in enhanced levels of the SmN protein in the PBMCs of these patients. The significance of transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes in regulating the expression in SLE patients of SmN and other autoantigens is discussed.
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PMID:Enhanced transcription of the gene encoding the SmN autoantigen in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus does not result in enhanced levels of the SmN protein. 777 6

The role of T cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is reviewed with a focus on autoantigen-specific T cells in SLE. The initial clue to a role for T cells in SLE was histopathologic studies demonstrating extensive infiltration of T cells at the sites of inflammation. Later studies, showing association between HLA polymorphisms and specific autoantibodies, directly implicated a role for T cells in autoantibody production. More recently, we and others have identified and characterized autoantigen-specific T cells in SLE. We review these studies on the role of autoantigen-specific T cells in SLE and present new findings on the molecular characterization of T cell immunity to Sm-B, Sm-D and U1-70kD small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) autoantigens.
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PMID:T cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. 1157 62