Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered that the presence of a benign nail abnormality may lead to the diagnosis of a rare inherited disorder that increases the risk of developing cancerous tumors of the skin, eyes, kidneys and the tissue that lines the chest and abdomen (e.g., the mesothelium).

Overview An international team of researchers, led by the NIAMS Intramural Research Program (IRP)’s Muscle Disease Section, has discovered a new mechanism through which myositis autoantibodies —antibodies produced by the immune system that mistakenly target the body's own components— contribute to the disease. Myositis encompasses a group of rare autoimmune diseases where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy muscle tissue. The researchers discovered that autoantibodies can get inside muscle cells and disrupt the normal function of the proteins they bind to. This new discovery could have implications for how we understand not only myositis, but also other autoimmune diseases. The