Apoptosis and autoimmunity

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Abstract
During normal tissue homeostasis, the rate of cell death is perfectly balanced by the rate of production of new cells, resulting in a constant cell number. Apoptosis is a critically important mechanism that facilitates deletion of unwanted or damaged cells in various circumstances, including embryogenesis, inflammation and tissue healing. The purpose of this article is to outline a ‘darker side’ of apoptosis since defects in the apoptotic cell death programme and subsequent clearance of cellular corpses are implicated in the pathogenesis of clinically important autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

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