Dependence of lymphopenia-induced T cell proliferation on the abundance of peptide/ MHC epitopes and strength of their interaction with T cell receptors.
Factors that affect naive T cell proliferation in syngeneic lymphopenic hosts were investigated. 2C T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic T cells lacking both CD8 and CD4 survived but hardly proliferated. Proliferation of CD8(+) 2C cells was proportional to the abundance of cognate peptide/MHC complexes and was severely inhibited by injection of anti-CD8 antibody. Weakly reactive self-peptides slightly enhanced CD8(+) 2C cell proliferation whereas a potent agonist peptide promoted much more rapid proliferation, but inflammation-stimulating adjuvant had only a small effect on the rate of cell proliferation. The findings suggest that under uniform lymphopenic conditions, the widely different rates of proliferation of T cells expressing various TCR, or the same TCR in the presence or absence of CD8, reflect the strength of interaction between TCR and MHC associated with particular self-peptides.
Ge
Q
Q
Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Rao
V P
VP
Cho
B K
BK
Eisen
H N
HN
Chen
J
J
D000818:Animals; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D002455:Cell Division; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008231:Lymphopenia / Q000276:immunology*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D016827:CD8 Antigens; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D010455:Peptides; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell