RNA binding proteins in the control of autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune disease is induced by the breakdown of immune tolerance to self-antigens. This is brought about by an imbalance between the activation and the repression of immune responses. Dysregulation of the immune response is driven by the excess of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF, which play a central role in the pathogenesis of a set of autoimmune diseases. The expression of proinflammatory mediator genes is tightly controlled by post-transcriptional regulation, which is mediated by a set of immune-related RNA binding proteins, such as tristetraprolin, Roquin, and Regnase-1. These proteins coordinately control the stability of proinflammatory mRNAs to regulate aberrant immune reactions. In this review, we discuss the roles of RNA binding proteins which are associated with the immune regulation and autoimmune pathogenesis.