T cell Repertoire Profiling and the Mechanism by which HLA-B27 Causes Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Consistent with this theory, there is an expanding body of data showing that expansion of a restricted pool of CD8 lymphocytes is found in most AS patients yet only in a small proportion of healthy HLA-B27 carriers. These exciting findings strongly support the theory that AS is driven by presentation of antigenic peptides to the adaptive immune system by HLA-B27. They point to new potential approaches to identify the exogenous and endogenous antigens involved and to potential therapies for the disease.