Subcellular expression of autoimmune regulator is organized in a spatiotemporal manner.

Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) is responsible for the development of organ-specific autoimmune disease in a monogenic fashion. Rare and low levels of tissue expression together with the lack of AIRE-expressing cell lines have hampered a detailed analysis of the molecular dynamics of AIRE. Here we have established cell lines stably transfected with AIRE and studied the regulatory mechanisms for its subcellular expression.

AIRE functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase.

Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene mutation is responsible for the development of autoimmune-polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy, an organ-specific autoimmune disease with monogenic autosomal recessive inheritance. AIRE is predominantly expressed in medullary epithelial cells of the thymus and is considered to play important roles in the establishment of self-tolerance. AIRE contains two plant homeodomain (PHD) domains, and the novel role of PHD as an E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase has just emerged.