title: The molecular basis for public T-cell responses?
abstract: Public T-cell responses, in which T cells bearing identical T-cell receptors (TCRs) are observed to dominate the response to the same antigenic epitope in multiple individuals, have long been a focus of immune T-cell repertoire studies. However, the mechanism that enables the survival of a specific TCR from the diverse repertoire produced in the thymus through to its involvement in a public immune response remains unclear. In this Opinion article, we propose that the frequency of production of T cells bearing different TCRs during recombination has an important role in the sharing of TCRs in an immune response, with variable levels of 'convergent recombination' driving production frequencies.
authors.affiliation: Complex Systems Biology Group, Centre for Vascular Research, University of New South Wales, Kensington New South Wales 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Venturi
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Douek
authors.forename: Miles P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Davenport
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell