You are here: MEDICA Portal. MEDICA Magazine. Topic of the
Month. Volume archives. Our Topics in 2011. February 2011:
Autoimmune Diseases. Organs. Understanding Cause of Lupus Lupus
is a chronic autoimmune disease of connective tissue that causes
the body's immune system to become Rujuan Dai, research
scientist, and her colleagues in the veterinary college's
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, have
discovered a "common set of dysregulated miRNAs in murine lupus
models." The research was funded in part by the Lupus Foundation
of America. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease of connective
tissue that causes the body's immune system to become
hyperactive and attack normal, healthy tissue. This results in
symptoms such as inflammation, swelling, and possible damage to
joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart, or lungs. In an effort
to better understand epigenetic factors in the causes of lupus,
researchers at the veterinary college focused on microRNA
(miRNA), seeking to determine potential impair