Department of Immunology, Monash University, Prahran, Vic., Australia.
Autoimmunity. 2008 Dec;41(8):679-85. doi: 10.1080/08916930802197123.
Autoimmune diseases represent a major challenge for medical research. The aberrant self-recognition by the immune system leads to a range of pathologies for which cures have not been forthcoming. Treatments are commonly non-specific and often lead to unwanted side-effects. A number of strategies are currently being explored to tackle autoimmunity; aimed at eliminating existing pathogenic clones and the induction of immune tolerance through resetting or regulating the immune system. Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is one such strategy and is being trailed in a number of autoimmune diseases. However, a common feature of this strategy is disease relapse and may indicate incomplete tolerance mechanisms. It is well known that bone marrow derived cells have a major influence on immune tolerance. It is also well documented that ectopic expression of antigens within the immune system can promote robust tolerance. This review considers these observations in the context of promoting a strategy involving genetic manipulation of haematopoietic stem cells together with HSCT to induce immune tolerance and tackle autoimmunity.
自身免疫性疾病是医学研究的一大挑战。免疫系统的异常自我识别导致了一系列的病理，目前还没有治愈方法。治疗方法通常是非特异性的，而且常常会导致不必要的副作用。目前正在探索许多策略来解决自身免疫问题；旨在通过重置或调节免疫系统来消除现有的致病性克隆和诱导免疫耐受。自体造血干细胞移植（HSCT）就是这样一种策略，并且正在多种自身免疫性疾病中进行试验。然而，这种策略的一个共同特征是疾病复发，这可能表明免疫耐受机制不完整。众所周知，骨髓来源的细胞对免疫耐受有很大的影响。也有大量文献记载，免疫系统内异位表达抗原可以促进强大的耐受。本文考虑了这些观察结果，提出了一种涉及造血干细胞基因操作与 HSCT 相结合以诱导免疫耐受和解决自身免疫问题的策略。
