Human Autoimmunity Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of human autoimmunity
IRAS ID
356326
Contact name
Carola Vinuesa
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
10 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Autoimmune diseases are common in the population and result from our immune system inappropriately recognising and attacking components of ourselves causing symptoms in different areas of the body. A key stage in development of autoimmune diseases is that specialist immune cells called lymphocytes start to recognise molecules on self tissues. These molecules are called self-antigens. There are usually multiple safety checks in place to prevent this happening, leading to tolerance to self-antigens. A breakdown in this tolerance leads to autoimmunity. It is important to study the patterns of cells and molecules in the blood and tissues of patients with autoimmune diseases. By doing this, we can discover the patterns that are common to all patients with a disease as well as those that differ in different patients and may thus play an important role in disease heterogeneity.
In this project, we will build on this previous work in rare single gene cases by studying the same cells and molecular patterns in the more common forms of SLE that are not caused by single genes, as well as other systemic autoimmune diseases [Autoimmune Disease Group]. This will be in addition to our ongoing work exploring rare cases that are identified during the course of the study. For some aspects of the study, participants who have had a recent viral infection or have received antiviral vaccines will be recruited to explore this unique immune response to virus or vaccine [Viral Infection Group], in comparison to the response generated in autoimmunity. We will also study the same cells and molecular patterns in healthy participants [Healthy Control Group] to investigate which features are only found in disease processes. The immune cells and chemicals to be studied will be obtained from blood [Autoimmune Disease Group, Healthy Control Group, and the Viral Infection Group].
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/NW/0150
Date of REC Opinion
15 May 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion