Lothar Rink

TL;DR: The results indicate that SPEB seems not to be a superantigen or represents a different group of microbial superantigens, which could be one reason for the existence of autoantibodies and autoreactive T cells in autoimmune diseases and one major step in the beginning of the induction of autoreactivity.

TL;DR: Results indicate that protein tyrosine kinase is involved in MAM-induced IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha gene expression in the THP-1 monocytic cell line, indicating that the capacity of MAM to induce proinflammatory cytokine transcription in monocytes via MHC class II molecules can be one pathway of M AM contribution to autoimmune diseases.

TL;DR: Investigating the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps in response to thimerosal and its metabolites ethyl mercury, thiosalicylic acid, and mercuric ions finds that EtHg and Hg2+ triggered NADPH oxidase-independent production of ROS, which are likely to be involved in mercurial-induced NET formation, which might help understanding the autoimmune potential of mercurials.

TL;DR: One strain without any SAg gene is identified, which contrasts with previous reports describing SAg genes located on every Streptococcus pyogenes genome and is hypothesized that clinical isolates from patients may overrepresent bacterial strains with pathogenic factors, such as SAgs.