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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Autoimmun. 2011 Jun 1;37(2):104–112. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2011.05.004

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Generation of autoreactive Abs and effector T cells in SLE by environmental T cell epitope mimics. A. Accumulation of cross-reactive T cells as a consequence of response to environmental mimics in hosts (HLA-DR3+) with lupus susceptibility genes but not in hosts (HLA-DR3+) without these genes. B. The accumulation of diverse autoantibodies as a response to these mimics generates pathogenic autoreactive Abs and effector T cells. After therapy, the complexity of these autoantibodies and autoreactive T cells are reduced, leading to remission. Over a period of time after discontinuing therapy, the complexity of autoantibodies and effect T cells returns leading to a protean clinical presentation in relapses. The mimics reside on a diverse array of environmental antigens and the chances for exposure to these mimics are random, providing a scenario in that SLE is not caused by a single pathogen. This mechanism has the flavor of a stochastic process.