{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T04:55:22Z","timestamp":1781844922069,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"NIH NIAMS","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01 AR078781"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 AR078781"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000072","name":"NIDCR","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["R56 DE035224"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R56 DE035224"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000072","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The \u2018molecular mimicry theory\u2019 states that foreign antigens introduced during infection can activate autoreactive T or B cells, leading to autoimmune diseases. However, despite a decrease in infectious burden, autoimmune disease incidence is on the rise globally. To address this paradox, we analyzed the impact of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) on the autoimmune-prone mouse strain MRL. We found that BaP induced the expression of genes, the protein products of which showed homology to bacterial pathogens, in the MRL spleen and kidneys. Based on our findings, we propose the hypothesis that environmental pollutants may \u2018mimic\u2019 the impact of pathogen invasion on the immune system in autoimmune-susceptible individuals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology15120944","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T00:49:42Z","timestamp":1781743782000},"page":"944","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Possible Triggering of Molecular Mimicry by Environmental Pollution"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Sofya","family":"Mishina","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bryttan","family":"Adams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5201-432X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bruce","family":"Uhal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yun","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"248","DOI":"10.1038\/nrrheum.2018.39","article-title":"Autoimmunity: The ABCs of autoimmune disease","volume":"14","author":"Collison","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. 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