Scurfy mice: A model for autoimmune disease
Autoimmune disease-the condition in which the body attacks its own tissue-has been an object of public concern recently. Former President George Bush and his wife Barbara both are afflicted with Graves' disease in which the body's own immune system attakcs the thyroid gland. The safety of breast implants was called into question because of evidence that some recipients had developed autoimmune disorders such a rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and scleroderma. Women, the media pointed out, have a higher-than-average incidence of many autoimmune disorders. These events suggest the need to know more about what makes the immune system work so well and what makes it go awry. At ORNL's Biology Division, progress is being in understanding the underlying causes of immune disease by studying mice having a disease that causes them to be underdeveloped; to have scaly skin, small ears, and large spleens; to open their eyes late; and to die early. These [open quotes]scurfy[close quotes]mice are helping us better understand the role of the thymus gland in autoimmune disease.
- OSTI ID:
- 5953885
- Journal Information:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review; (United States), Vol. 26:1; ISSN 0048-1262
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The autoimmune diseases
Possible deletion of a developmentally regulated heavy-chain variable region gene in autoimmune diseases
Related Subjects
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
MICE
IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES
IMMUNE REACTIONS
IMMUNITY
IMMUNOSUPPRESSION
LYMPHOCYTES
THYMUS
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DISEASES
LEUKOCYTES
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
ORGANS
RODENTS
SOMATIC CELLS
VERTEBRATES
550400* - Genetics
550600 - Medicine