Thymic selection of T-cell receptors as an extreme value problem.
T lymphocytes (T cells) orchestrate adaptive immune responses upon activation. T-cell activation requires sufficiently strong binding of T-cell receptors on their surface to short peptides (p) derived from foreign proteins, which are bound to major histocompatibility gene products (displayed on antigen-presenting cells). A diverse and self-tolerant T-cell repertoire is selected in the thymus. We map thymic selection processes to an extreme value problem and provide an analytic expression for the amino acid compositions of selected T-cell receptors (which enable its recognition functions).
Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Andrej
A
Kosmrlj
Arup K
AK
Chakraborty
Mehran
M
Kardar
Eugene I
EI
Shakhnovich
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell