Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, Volume 296: Molecular Mimicry: Infection-Inducing Autoimmune Disease

by Michael B.A. Oldstone (Editor)

The conceptual basis for molecular mimicry was first defined in the early 1980s when monoclonal antibodies against viruses were also shown to react with non-viral host protein; in this case, measles virus phosphoprotein cross-reacted with host cell cytokeratin, herpes simplex virus type 1 with host-cell vimentin and vaccinia virus with host-cell intermediate filaments. Following this discovery, others emerged, again at the clonal level, that T cell clones against proteins from a variety of infectious agents also reacted with host antigenic determinants. The clonal distinction was imperative for the initial definition of mimicry. At least 30 years prior to our initial description of molecular mimicry involving cross-reactions between numerous microbes, on the polyclonal antibody level, streptococcus was believed to react with renal glomeruli, heart and basal ganglia to account for the glomerulonephritis, heart and valvular disease and chorea, respectively. However, subsequent research showed that the nephritis was caused by immune complex deposits and the tissue damage they produced. Later, in 1990, the cross-reactivity of streptococcal antigen with myocardial antigens on a clonal level was uncovered. Hence, for both historical reasons and mechanistic understanding, it is best to provide evidence for cross-reactivity at the clonal level to prove that molecular mimicry exists.

175 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Born in New York, NY; married; children: three. Education: University of Alabama, A.S., 1954; University of Maryland, M.D., 1961; advanced study at Johns Hopkins McCullom Pratt Institute of Biochemistry. Hobbies and other interests: Bird watching, fly fishing, body surfing, reading.

MEMBER:
American Association of Physicians, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Scandinavian Society of Immunology (elected).

AWARDS, HONORS:
Burroughs Wellcome Professorship Award, Medical Research Council; American Academy of Microbiology fellow; Cotzias Award, for contributions in research, 1986; Abraham Flexner Award, for contributions in biomedical research, 1988; Rous-Whipple Award, for contributions in experimental pathology, 1993; Biomedical Science Award, Karolinska Institute, for contributions in virus/autoimmune diseases, 1994; J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine, for contributions in virus-host interactions and viral pathogenesis, 1997; R.E. Dyer Lectureship and Directors Award, National Institutes of Health, for contributions in viral pathogenesis, 2000; Pioneer in NeuroVirology Award, International Society for NeuroVirology, 2003; elected to Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences.