Autoantibody repertoires, natural biomarkers, and system controllers

• Antigen microarrays can profile antibody repertoires for systems immunology.
• Antibody profiles distinguish states of health and states of inflammatory disease.
• Antibody profiles can uncover immune system regulator signals like HSP60 and HSP70.
• Natural regulators can be used to treat inflammatory disease and restore health.

The immune system is composed of networks of interacting cells and molecules; therefore, to understand and control immune behavior we need to adopt the thinking and tools of systems immunology. This review describes the use of an antigen microarray device and informatics to profile the repertoires of autoantibodies in health and disease. Autoantibody profiling provides an insight into the biomarkers used by the immune system in its dialog with the body. Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) and HSP70 are cited as examples of key hubs in physiological regulatory networks; HSP molecules and peptides can be viewed as natural regulators because the immune system itself deploys them to modulate inflammatory reactions. The discovery of such natural biomarkers paves the way towards natural control.