Studies of T cell receptors in autoimmune diseases

Conclusions  The authors established a novel system for the detection of TCR clonality and examined several systemic autoimmune diseases using this system. The results strongly suggested that antigen-specific T cells are invelved in the formation of lesions in these diseases. Future studies including the identification of these antigens are expected to facilitate detailed clarification of the mechanisms of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, as well as the development of antigen-specific treatments of autoimmune diseases.