New approaches to dissect degeneracy and specificity in T cell antigen recognition.
The acquired immune system is a complex and very effective defense against invading pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. T cells are central to the acquired immune system by controlling B and T cell activation and induction of T cell effector functions. The key event for T cell activation is the recognition of a specific antigen by the T cell receptor. During the past decade antigen recognition of T cells has been investigated intensively leading to new insights into the molecular mechanisms of T cell activation. In addition to the resolution of the molecular structure of the trimolecular complex (T cell receptor, peptide, major histocompatibility complex) functional studies have demonstrated the flexibility of the T cell receptor interaction with its ligand. These observations have had strong implications for the understanding of T cell selection, maturation, and repertoire maintenance. In addition, the flexibility of the T cell receptor has provided the basis for novel methods to dissect antigen recognition and define the repertoire of ligands for a given receptor. Here, we summarize recent progress on T cell recognition and method innovations with respect to future studies in autoimmune diseases.
Jacobsen
M
M
Clinical Neuroimmunology Group, Department of Neurology, Philipps-University, Rudolf-Bultmann Strasse 8, 35033 Marburg, Germany.
Cepok
S
S
Oertel
W H
WH
Sommer
N
N
Hemmer
B
B
D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008954:Models, Biological; D019151:Peptide Library; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D000941:Antigens; D019151:Peptide Library; D010455:Peptides; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell