DNaseI in pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus

The aberrant activation of lymphocytes causes autoimmune diseases. Although there are many candidate molecules that are involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, it still remains unclear how immunological tolerance is disturbed in each autoimmune disease. Recently, we discovered two patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with a defect in the DNaseI gene locus. According to immunological and genetic analysis, we hypothesize that defective antigen clearance, especially accumulation of nucleosomal antigens, is responsible for the development of SLE. In this article, we review the pathogenesis of SLE from the view of defective self-antigen clearance due to low DNaseI activity. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.