title: Interactions of TCRs with MHC-peptide complexes: a quantitative basis for mechanistic models.
abstract: The activation of T lymphocytes is initiated by the binding of MHC-peptide complexes on antigen-presenting cells to MHC-restricted, peptide specific TCRs. Significant progress has recently been made in understanding the structure of the TCR and in the direct quantitative examination of the primary binding interactions between MHC-peptide complexes and the TCR. Attempts to develop quantitative models for the differential activation of T cells by MHC-peptide ligands that differ subtly in their structure have largely been based on either the affinity of the MHC-peptide complexes for the TCR in question or on the dissociation kinetics of the MHC-peptide complex from the T cell.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Section, Laboratory of Immunology, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1892, USA. dhm@helix.nih.gov
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Margulies
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell