T cells respond preferentially to antigens that are similar to self H-2.

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Abstract
Bone marrow irradiation chimeras were constructed to investigate the influence of self antigens on the specificity of the T lymphocyte receptor repertoire. Bone marrow cells from (A .times. B)F1 mice heterozygous for the major histocompatibility genes were allowed to mature into T cells in irradiated parent A or parent B strains. More than 8 wk after irradiation, when the lymphoid system had regenerated from the F1 stem cells, the degree of T cell reactivity to mutant major histocompatibility antigens, A'', was assessed. T cells that had matured in the irradiated A mice, [F1 .fwdarw. A] chimeras, responded better to A'' antigen than did T cells from the [F1 .fwdarw. B] chimeras. Because the mutant histocompatibility antigen A'' is very similar in structure to A, differing only by 1 or a few residues, the T cell repertoire in [F1 .fwdarw. parent] chimeras evidently reacts preferentially with foreign antigens that are slight variants of the shelf antigens expressed on radiation-resistant cells, probably cells in the thymus.