ReviewImmunology and cell biology1997
Molecular mimicry: can epitope mimicry induce autoimmune disease?
Review in Immunology and cell biology, 1997. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infection-Triggered Immune Dysregulation and Immunopathology in Lyme Disease: Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- T-Cell Receptor Sequences Identify Combined Coxsackievirus-International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- AQP4 as a vintage autoantigen: what do we know till now?Heliyon · 2022Review
- Cross-Reactivity between Chemical Antibodies Formed to Serum Proteins and Thyroid Axis Target Sites.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Article
- Autoimmunity in Chronic Chagas Disease: A Road of Multiple Pathways to Cardiomyopathy?Frontiers in immunology · 2018Review
- Roles of Host Immunity in Viral Myocarditis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy.Journal of immunology research · 2018Review
- The Role of Infection and Immune Responsiveness in a Case of Treatment-Resistant Pediatric Bipolar Disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2017Article
- miPepBase: A Database of Experimentally Verified Peptides Involved in Molecular Mimicry.Frontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
- De novo design of protein mimics of B-DNA.Molecular bioSystems · 2016Article
- Unresolved issues in theories of autoimmune disease using myocarditis as a framework.Journal of theoretical biology · 2015Review
- Autoimmune pathogenesis of Chagas heart disease: looking back, looking ahead.The American journal of pathology · 2015Review
- The pathogenesis and diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus: still not resolved.Seminars in immunopathology · 2014Review
- Rethinking Molecular Mimicry in Rheumatic Heart Disease and Autoimmune Myocarditis: Laminin, Collagen IV, CAR, and B1AR as Initial Targets of Disease.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2014Article
- The Potential Roles of Bisphenol A (BPA) Pathogenesis in Autoimmunity.Autoimmune diseases · 2014Review
- A Role for RNA Viruses in the Pathogenesis of Burkitt's Lymphoma: The Need for Reappraisal.Advances in hematology · 2012Article
- Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in an Italian cohort of type 1 diabetes pediatric patients.Clinical & developmental immunology · 2012Article
- The promise of the anti-idiotype concept.Frontiers in oncology · 2012Article
- Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis as a trigger of type-1 diabetes: destination Sardinia, or beyond?Gut pathogens · 2010Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Mimicry of host antigens by infectious agents may induce cross-reactive autoimmune responses to epitopes within host proteins which, in susceptible individuals, may tip the balance of immunological response versus tolerance toward response and subsequently lead to autoimmune disease. Epitope mimicry may indeed be involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases such as post-viral myocarditis or Chagas disease, but for many other diseases in which it has been implicated, such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitis or rheumatoid arthritis, convincing evidence is still lacking. Even if an epitope mimic can support a cross-reactive T or B cell response in vitro, its ability to induce an autoimmune disease in vivo will depend upon the appropriate presentation of the mimicked host antigen in the target tissue and, in the case of T cell mimics, the ability of the mimicking epitope to induce a proliferative rather than anergizing response upon engagement of the MHC-peptide complex with the T cell receptor. B cell presentation of mimicking foreign antigen to T cells is a possible mechanism for instigating an autoimmune response to self antigens that in turn can lead to autoimmune disease under particular conditions of antigen presentation, secondary signalling and effector cell repertoire. In this review evidence in support of epitope mimicry is examined in the light of the necessary immunological considerations of the theory.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.