Abstract
The prevailing concept about a major influence of thymic positive selection on shaping the T cell repertoire during ontogeny is confronted with an old idea emphasizing a dominant role for genetic (evolutionary) factors in molding the recognition potential of mature T cells. Our recent results are not readily interpreted without introducing a new version of the old concept, according to which complementarity to the major histocompatibility complex peptide-binding site is a major evolutionary selective pressure on T cell antigen receptor variable genes, with alloreactivity being a reflection of this fact.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Antigen Presentation
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Clonal Deletion*
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Crosses, Genetic
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Dimerization
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Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte*
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Genes, MHC Class II
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Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / chemistry
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Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / genetics
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Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / immunology
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Isoantigens / immunology
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Major Histocompatibility Complex / genetics
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Major Histocompatibility Complex / immunology*
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Mice
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Mice, Inbred C57BL
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Mice, Knockout
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Models, Genetic
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Models, Immunological
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Models, Molecular
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Protein Binding
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Protein Conformation
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / genetics*
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / genetics
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / immunology
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T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / immunology
Substances
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Histocompatibility Antigens Class II
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I-E-antigen
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Isoantigens
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta