ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of molecular mimicry and immunological cross-reactivity involving SARS-CoV-2 and autoimmunity. There are numerous immune-mediated phenomena and autoimmune disorders induced by or following COVID-19 disease and/or SARS-VoV-2 vaccination. The major mechanism linking virus and host related autoimmune disorders and the development of SARS-CoV-2-induced autoantibodies has been considered that of molecular mimicry and immunological cross-reactivity, either at the B-cell or T-cell level. In this chapter, we describe the major concepts of the mechanism in motion and critically discuss the data so far provided from bioinformatics analysis providing mimicking pairs of homologies between the virus and numerous autoantigens, as well as from experimental studies using biomaterial, such as polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies directed against the virus and cross-recognizing self-proteins. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.