Polioencephalitis Polioencephalitis Polioencephalitis is a viral infection of the brain, causing inflammation within the grey matter of the brain stem. The virus has an affinity for neuronal cell bodies and has been found to affect mostly the midbrain, pons, medulla and cerebellum of most infected patients. The infection can reach up through the thalamus and hypothalamus and possibly reach the cerebral hemispheres. The infection is caused by the poliomyelitis virus which is a single-stranded, positive sense RNA virus surrounded by a non-enveloped capsid. Humans are the only known natural hosts of this virus. The disease has been eliminated from the U.S.
Antigen transfer in the thymus in thymic medulla, namely clonal deletion ("recessive tolerance") and T Regulatory cells selection ("dominant tolerance") which force autoreactive T cells to apoptosis or skew them into suppressor T regulatory cells (TRegs), respectively, in order to protect body against manifestations of autoimmunity. These processes are mediated especially by unique subset of stromal cells called Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) via presentation of Tissue restricted antigens (TRAs) that represent self tissues from almost all parts of the body. mTECs are not only capable to present TRAs as efficient APCs. They are also potent in production of these TRAs via unique process called