title: On a key postulate of T-cell receptor restrictive function: the V-gene loci act as a single pool encoding recognition of the polymorphic alleles of the species major histocompatibility complex.
abstract: The proposition that single Valpha or Vbeta gene segments specify the recognition of the allele-specific determinants expressed on the major histocompatibility complex-encoded restricting elements of the species has as its consequence a totally different picture of the functioning of the T-cell receptor. This commentary justifies this assumption and outlines some of its most important consequences.
authors.affiliation: Conceptual Immunology Group, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. cohn@salk.edu
authors.forename: Melvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohn
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell