SEARCHING FOR PATHOGENIC EPITOPES IN THYROGLOBULIN - PARAMETERS AND CAVEATS

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the discovery that thyroglobu lin (Tg) is a major autoantigen in autoimmune thyroiditis. The Tg mole cule presents unique challenges for epitope mapping owing to its large size and extensive iodination. Consequently, pathogenic determinants have only recently been identified. Here, George Carayanniotis and Var ada Rao summarize the approaches used to determine pathogenic Tg T-cel l epitopes and discuss caveats in this unusual quest.