Gene Therapy-Based Approach for Immune Tolerance Induction Using Recombinant Immunoglobulin Carriers

The mechanisms of tolerance induction and its breakdown are important to explore because of its involvement in the pathogenesis of many known autoimmune diseases. Tolerance to “self” is not absolute and can be overcome by the immune system after a foreign stimuli caused by pathogens, allergens or other imknown immune errors (e.g., defects in apoptosis) that affect the immune system, causing a switch from tolerance to an immune response. Therefore, autoimmune diseases may often result from an aberrant or dysfunctional immune response that can no longer discriminate between “self” and “non self” proteins. This deregulation will eventually lead to a systemic disease manifested by organ or tissue specific disorder and pathogenesis. Reversal of this breakdown by the re-introduction of tolerance is therefore an important goal.