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Updated: Oct 19, 2026

The bm12 Inducible Model of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in C57BL/6 Mice
Published on: November 1, 2015
Systemic lupus erythematosus and complement deficiency: clues to a novel role for the classical complement pathway in
J S Navratil1, L C Korb, J M Ahearn
1University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Arthritis Institute, PA, USA. joa8+@pitt.edu
Abstract:
Complete deficiency of C1q, the first component of the classical pathway of complement activation, is almost invariably associated with the development of systemic lupus erythematosus. Understanding why complement deficiency results in the specific autoimmune phenotype of SLE may provide valuable clues to the role of complement in the maintenance of immune tolerance. The following review will focus on the characteristics of complement-deficient SLE and the experimental evidence in support of our hypothesis that C1q may critically influence the immune response to self-antigen contained within surface blebs generated by apoptotic cells.
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