Receptor editing in developing T cells.
A central tenet of T cell development postulates that if a developing thymocyte encounters self-antigen, it is induced to die via apoptosis, thereby protecting the organism from autoreactive T cells. We created transgenic mice that expressed a peptide antigen in the cortical epithelial cells of the thymus. This did not, however, result in deletion of specific T cells. Instead, antigen presentation by epithelial cells caused T cell receptor (TCR) internalization and increased gene rearrangement at the endogenous TCR alpha locus, or receptor editing. This editing mechanism in immature T cells parallels that which occurs in immature B cells, and has important implications for understanding positive and negative selection signaling in the thymus, and the limits of self-tolerance.
McGargill
M A
MA
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Derbinski
J M
JM
Hogquist
K A
KA
D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell