Autoimmune Diseases Such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Rheumatoid

Multiple Choice

Autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are characterized by high levels of circulating autoreactive antibodies in the patient's circulation. An analysis of developing B cells in the bone marrow of these individuals might reveal that in some cases:

A) Developing B cells become anergic in response to strong B-cell receptor cross-linking by multivalent self-antigens.
B) Developing B cells are excluded from the B-cell follicles in the bone marrow and undergo rapid cell death.
C) sIgM-positive developing B cells show premature down-regulation of RAG recombinase proteins prior to the onset of receptor editing.
D) Hyperactive B-cell receptor signaling leads to rapid turnover of self-reactive developing B cells.
E) Developing B cells have defects in allelic exclusion and express two different B-cell receptors on their surface.