Thymic nurse cell lymphocytes react against self major histocompatibility complex.
It has been postulated that thymic nurse cells (TNC), lymphoid-epithelial complexes composed of thymocytes enclosed within major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I+ and class II+ cortical epithelial cells, may provide an optimal microenvironment for the process of T cell selection. By transplanting single TNC in the avian chorionallantoic membrane assay we demonstrate that a significant portion of intra-TNC lymphocytes (TNC-L) possess reactivity against self-MHC molecules. The frequency of these autoreactive cells among TNC-L exceeds by far that of thymocytes or peripheral blood lymphocytes of the same donor. These results indicate that TNC-L constitute a T cell population enriched for self-MHC reactivity, i.e. cells that have undergone positive selection, but not yet deletion and/or deactivation.
Penninger
J
J
Institute for General and Experimental Pathology, Medical School, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
Wick
G
G
D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002645:Chickens; D005260:Female; D006087:Graft vs Host Reaction; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000032:analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D001324:Autoantigens; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell