Title: autoantigen
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - autoantigen
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.12914
Status: current

Definition
Antigenic component of an individual’s tissues which may be a target of autoimmune responses by autoreactive B cells (autoantibodies) or T cells, including proteins (e.g., enzymes, structural proteins), glycoproteins (e.g., 2-glycoprotein I), nucleic acids, (e.g., double-stranded DNA), phospholipids (e.g., cardiolipin), and glycosphingolipids (e.g., gangliosides).

Related Terms
- Antigenic: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12885
- B cells: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12937
- T cells: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13724
- autoantibodies: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12913
- autoimmune: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12918
- cardiolipin: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12989
- self-tolerance: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13669

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1129 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12914/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12914/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12914/xml

Citation: Citation: 'autoantigen' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.12914
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-10T04:16:32+00:00