In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system attacks the skeletal joints. The result is inflammation, and this leads to joint swelling, stiffness and chronic pain. Researchers now know that the cells that cause rheumatoid arthritis are the same type as those that cause type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis, and the strategies that are currently used to prevent and reverse these diseases are similar (Houghten, Kumar, Pinilla). In addition to the cellular immune response, the antibody response also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. Understanding how antibodies can cause tissue destruction is also an area of intense investigation at TPIMS (Ogata).

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