Peptide strings clues to the genesis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: rebuilding self-protective immunity amid fungal ruins

A recent application of the peptide strings concept has yielded novel perceptions on cell growth regulation, for instance that of oncoprotein metastasis. Here, this interdisciplinary approach at the boundary between physics and biology has been applied to gain a more profound insight into rheumatoid arthritis. As a result of the present investigation, this disease could be viewed as due to a metabolic dysregulation/syndrome-associated breakdown in the immunoglobulin A-based surveillance of the potentially pathogenic fungus Candida albicans that subsequently engenders a widespread self-destruction through cross-reactive auto-epitopes, ultimately amounting to the systemic predominance of a pro-inflammatory peptide string. Its therapeutic counterpart equally proposed in this report might serve as a model for future strategies against autoimmunity.