T cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus

The role of T cells in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is reviewed with a focus on autoantigen-specific T cells in SLE. The initial clue to a role for T cells in SLE was histopathologic studies demonstrating extensive infiltration of T cells at the sites of inflammation. Later studies, showing association between HLA polymorphisms and specific autoantibodies, directly implicated a role for T cells in autoantibody production. More recently, we and others have identified and characterized autoantigen-specific T cells in SLE. We review these studies on the role of autoantigen-specific T cells in SLE and present new findings on the molecular characterization of T cell immunity to Sm-B, Sm-D and U1-70kD small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) autoantigens.