Competition for self ligands restrains homeostatic proliferation of naive CD4 T cells
- 13 January 2003
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 100 (3) , 1185-1190
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0334572100
Abstract
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.Keywords
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