Since Burnet first introduced his “forbidden clones” theory, the discrimination between self
and non-self and the physiologic mechanisms of avoiding autoimmunity remained an …

Boyden (1965) and Michael (1969) began their reviews on natural antibodies by stating,
respectively, that “Although a great deal has been written about the antibodies present in …

Natural autoantibodies/natural autoimmunity forms a network that serves to protect the
organism from outer and inner danger but may also contribute to autoimmune disease. This …

The immune system of normal unimmunized animals is characterized by the presence of B
cells synthesizing and secreting mainly polyreactive, but also monoreactive, IgM and IgG …

Auto-antibodies can exist in small amounts in normal organisms and appear in quantity after
tissue destruction or alteration by exogeneous agents. Assuming that the immunological …

Burnet's influential theory of the immune system maintained that lymphocytes capable of
recognizing self-antigens are eliminated during ontogeny (Burnet 1959). According to his …

According to Burnet's clonal selection theory,'in the early 1960s, explanations for tolerance
and autoimmunity were attractively simple. Autoreactive lymphocytes were deleted during …

Antibodies that are present in the serum of healthy individuals in the absence of deliberate
immunization with any antigen, are refered to as natural antibodies. A vast majority of natural …

One of the main roles of the immune system is to distinguish between autologous and
nonself antigens. This feature of the immune system enables it to identify and react with …

Autoantibodies are common in healthy individuals and appear not to be harmful. It is not
clear how they arise nor what their function is. Here Irun Cohen and Anne Cooke propose …