“Unravelling autoimmunity in Addison’s disease using a new mouse model”

Autoimmune Addison’s disease is a disorder targeting steroid-producing cells in the adrenal glands. Due to the lack of suitable animal models, the immune mechanisms underlying adrenal destruction remain largely unknown. To address this, we developed the first defined mouse model of experimental autoimmune adrenalitis by immunizing C57BL/6 mice with immunogenic peptides derived from CYP11A1, a rate-limiting enzyme in steroidogenesis. This model allows us to study the pathogenesis of Addison’s disease and provides a unique opportunity to investigate the fate decisions of self-reactive CD4⁺ T cells and their clonal lineages in a well-defined autoimmune setting.