Molecular mimicry has been proposed as a pathogenetic mechanism for autoimmune disease, as well as a probe useful in uncovering its etiologic agents. The hypothesis is based in part on the abundant epidemiological, clinical, and experimental evidence of an association of infectious agents with autoimmune disease and observed cross-reactivity of immune reagents with host 'self' antigens and micr...

The translation of genetic messages into proteins on ribosomes is catalyzed by a number of proteins that bind transiently to the ribosome [1,2]. These are the initiation, elongation and release (termination) factors. Several of these factors are GTP-hydrolyzing (G) proteins, which undergo a conformation transition between an active state with bound GTP and an inactive state with bound GDP. In b...

Protective mimicry has been studied extensively for over a century. Mimicry in a competitive context, however, has remained largely neglected. It has been overlooked in mimicry classification schemes, and few systems have been rigorously studied. We define ‘‘competitive mimicry’’ as mimicry that enables access to a defended resource or aids in defense of a resource. We explain how competitive m...

Bacterial pathogens have co-evolved with their hosts in their ongoing quest for advantage in the resulting interaction. These intimate associations have resulted in remarkable adaptations of prokaryotic virulence proteins and their eukaryotic molecular targets. An important strategy used by microbial pathogens of animals to manipulate host cellular functions is structural mimicry of eukaryotic ...

In genetically susceptible people, narcolepsy can sometimes be triggered by a similarity between a region of a protein called hypocretin and a portion of a protein from the pandemic H1N1 virus, according to a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine. The study provides some of the most compelling cellular and molecular evidence to date for a scientific concept known as “molecular mimi...

Understanding etiology of autoimmune diseases has been a great challenge for designing drugs and vaccines. The pathophysiology of many autoimmune diseases may be attributed to molecular mimicry provoked by microbes. Molecular mimicry hypothesizes that a sequence homology between foreign and self-peptides leads to cross-activation of autoreactive T cells. Different microbial proteins are implica...