Intracellular nucleic acid sensors can trigger autoimmune disease

Bruce Beutler, MD, a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine, has coauthored an article describing a novel molecular mechanism that can cause the body to attack itself and trigger an autoimmune disease. The article is published online ahead of print in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com) and is available free at www.liebertpub.com/jir

In the article, entitled "Intracellular Nucleic Acid Sensors and Autoimmunity," Argyrios Theofilopoulos, Dwight Kono, Bruce Beutler, and Roberto Baccala, The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, California), review the scientific evidence that supports the role of molecular sensors located inside cells in the initiation not only of protective and inflammatory immune responses, but also in an autoimmune response. These sensors recognize nucleic acid signatures that may be shared by foreign pathogens and the body's own DNA and RNA.

Dr. Beutler is one of three recipients awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. He shares half of the prize with Jules Hoffman, PhD for their discoveries related to how the body's immune system fights disease through the activation of an innate immune response. The third recipient, Ralph Steinman, MD, who died before the Nobel Prizes were announced, previously published an article (http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/08892220050075318) in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. congratulates the three winners for the work and contributions to medicine for which they are being recognized.