Journal article

Expression of the gastric H/K-ATPase alpha-subunit in the thymus may explain the dominant role of the beta-subunit in the pathogenesis of autoimmune gastritis

F Alderuccio, PA Gleeson, SP Berzins, M Martin, IR VanDriel, BH Toh

AUTOIMMUNITY | HARWOOD ACAD PUBL GMBH | Published : 1997

Abstract

The two subunits of the gastric H/K ATPase, namely the catalytic alpha-subunit and the glycoprotein beta-subunit, are the major targets of parietal cell autoantibodies associated with human and murine autoimmune gastritis. The murine disease induced by neonatal thymectomy is T cell-mediated. We have previously shown that transgenic expression of the H/K ATPase beta-subunit gene in the thymus prevented the development of autoimmune gastritis induced by thymectomy. However, little is known of the contribution of the H/K ATPase alpha-subunit in disease development. Here, we show that (1) in contrast to the gastric H/K ATPase beta-subunit, the alpha-subunit gene is expressed in normal BALB/c thy..

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