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A reliable and safe T cell repertoire based on low-affinity T cell receptors
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UNSPECIFIED (2001) A reliable and safe T cell repertoire based on low-affinity T cell receptors. JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY, 209 (4). pp. 465-486. ISSN 0022-5193
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Antigens are presented to T cells as short peptides bound to MHC molecules on the surface of body cells. The binding between MHC/peptides and T cell receptors (TCRs) has a low affinity and is highly degenerate. Nevertheless, TCR-MHC/peptide recognition results in T cell activation of high specificity. Moreover, the immune system is able to mount a cellular response when only a small fraction of the MHC molecules on an antigen-presenting cell is occupied by foreign peptides, while autoimmunity remains relatively rare. We consider how to reconcile these seemingly contradictory facts using a quantitative model of TCR signalling and T cell activation. Taking into account the statistics of TCR recognition and antigen presentation, we show that thymic selection can produce a working T cell repertoire which will produce safe and effective responses, that is, recognizes foreign antigen presented at physiological levels while tolerating self. We introduce "activation curves" as a useful tool to study the repertoire's statistical activation properties. (C) 2001 Academic Press.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology |
| Journal or Publication Title: | JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY |
| Publisher: | ACADEMIC PRESS LTD |
| ISSN: | 0022-5193 |
| Date: | 21 April 2001 |
| Volume: | 209 |
| Number: | 4 |
| Number of Pages: | 22 |
| Page Range: | pp. 465-486 |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| URI: | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/12182 |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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