#self-antigen

• Autoantibody — An antibody produced by an individual's immune system that, due to a functional recognition error, is pathologically directed against the host organism's own cells, tissues, or molecular constituents; a central factor in the triggering, progression, and clinical diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.
• Autoantigen — A normal molecular constituent, macromolecule, protein, or cellular structure native to an organism that, under conditions of impaired immune tolerance, is erroneously recognized as a foreign substance (antigen) and becomes the target of an attack triggered by its own immune system.