TY - JOUR
T1 - Competition for self ligands restrains homeostatic proliferation of naive CD4 T cells
AU - Moses, Christina T.
AU - Thorstenson, Kristen M.
AU - Jamesont, Stephen C.
AU - Khoruts, Alexander
PY - 2003/2/4
Y1 - 2003/2/4
N2 - T cell antigen receptor (TCR) diversity is a critical feature of adaptive immunity. However, restriction of TCR diversity is a potential risk during immune reconstitution by homeostatic proliferation. What peripheral mechanisms are in place to maintain TCR diversity during recovery from lymphopenia? Here, we examine competition between several monoclonal CD4 T cell populations in RAG-/- and TCR Tg RAG-/- environments. The results suggest that specific self ligands constitute a critical limiting resource essential for homeostatic proliferation of naive CD4 T cells. In addition, T cells ignore large numbers of competitors as long as their TCR specificity is different and other non-MHC resources are not limiting. Therefore, the numbers of self ligands expressed in the periphery set the limits on TCR diversity.
AB - T cell antigen receptor (TCR) diversity is a critical feature of adaptive immunity. However, restriction of TCR diversity is a potential risk during immune reconstitution by homeostatic proliferation. What peripheral mechanisms are in place to maintain TCR diversity during recovery from lymphopenia? Here, we examine competition between several monoclonal CD4 T cell populations in RAG-/- and TCR Tg RAG-/- environments. The results suggest that specific self ligands constitute a critical limiting resource essential for homeostatic proliferation of naive CD4 T cells. In addition, T cells ignore large numbers of competitors as long as their TCR specificity is different and other non-MHC resources are not limiting. Therefore, the numbers of self ligands expressed in the periphery set the limits on TCR diversity.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0334572100
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0334572100
M3 - Article
C2 - 12525694
AN - SCOPUS:0037417794
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 100
SP - 1185
EP - 1190
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 3
ER -