Concepts for the development of a quantitative theory of clonal selection and class regulation using lessons from the original.
When Burnet wrote his modification of Jerne's theory he simply wrote-'It is postulated that when antigen-(receptor) contact takes place on the surface of a lymphocyte the cell is activated to settle in an appropriate tissue... and there undergo proliferation to produce a variety of descendants'.(1) But studies of 'activation' and 'proliferation' following receptor contact have turned out to be surprisingly complex-much more complex than the theory apparently requires. It is timely, on this 50th anniversary, to take a closer look at the complexity and highlight some lesser-known general features of the clonal selection theory and of B cell activation that can be useful in formulating a quantitative version of this theory that includes class regulation and cellular heterogeneity.
Hodgkin
Philip D
PD
Division of Immunology, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. hodgkin@wehi.edu.au
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007109:Immunity; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D000906:Antibodies; D000941:Antigens; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell