Autoimmunity: Methods and Protocols

This collection of readily reproducible molecular techniques and related in vitro/in vivo model systems can be used to explore the causes of autoimmunity, as well as how best it may be regulated. There are methods to assess immunological and biochemical pathways relevant for pathogenesis and to establish and assess a variety of autoimmune diseases, including arthritis, lupus, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, myocarditis, thyroiditis, scleroderma, uveitis, and vitiligo.
Autoimmunity-which affects up to 10% of the world's population-can damage nearly every tissue or cell type of the human body with greatly debilitating or fatal results. In Autoimmunity: Methods and Protocols, expert medical researchers describe in step-by-step detail molecular techniques and in vitro/in vivo model systems for discovering the causes of autoimmunity, as well as how best it may be regulated. The methods to assess the immunological and biochemical pathways relevant for pathogenesis include identifying susceptibility genes, intercellular signaling via cytokines, intracellular signaling through the T-cell receptor, signal processing via protein kinases, identification and enumeration of antigen-specific T cells and autoantibodies, and the dysregulation of apoptosis and its role in modification of self-antigens. Additional protocols serve to establish the presence of and assess inflammatory arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, myocarditis, thyroiditis, scleroderma,