The thymus and central tolerance.
T cell tolerance to self-components occurs largely in the thymus during early differentiation and leads to death (negative selection) of T cells with overt autoreactivity. In this article we review the evidence that negative selection in mice occurs mainly in the medulla at the level of a population of semimature T cells. The role of Fas and several costimulatory molecules on negative selection and the inhibitory role of certain cytokines are discussed.
Kishimoto
H
H
Department of Immunology, IMM4, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Sprent
J
J
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000276:immunology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D051379:Mice; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*