Autoimmune Regulator Gene (Aire) is Expressed in Lymph Node Fibroblastic Reticular Cell, BLS4

Autoimmune regulator gene (Aire) is expressed in the thymus and controls the expression of peripheral self-antigens, known as promiscuous genes. Aire and promiscuous genes are involved in T cell tolerance and autoimmunity in the thymus. Here, we identified Aire-expressing fibroblastic reticular cell (FRC), which was derived from mouse lymph node and also expressed in insulin promiscuous antigen. The expression of insulin was increased in cultured FRC over-expressed with Aire. These data suggest that Aire regulates promiscuous gene expression in FRC, and that this function might be under peripheral selection control.