AIRE and Autoimmunity: As a transcription regulator, AIRE promotes the expression of peripheral tissue-restricted antigens on mTECs and the clonal deletion of self-reactive T-lymphocytes; in the AIRE-deficient state, these cells escape in the periphery and are both necessary and sufficient to cause tissue-specific autoimmunity as shown by lymphocyte depletion and adoptive transfer experiments in mice (2, 34–38).