Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 178, 1713-1724, Copyright © 1993 by Rockefeller University Press
In Mls-1a mice, fetal-type beta-gene rearrangements are frequent among self-anergic V beta 6 T cells
R Rajasekar, A Sirr, M McCarty, GK Sim and A Augustin
Department of Medicine, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Denver, Colorado 80206.
T lymphocytes generated in the fetal and neonatal period are characterized
by T cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements that lack N region nucleotides
(fetal-type TCR). Using fetal-type TCR as a lineage marker, we show that
such T cells are long-lived and persist in the periphery of adult mice.
Moreover, in both neonatal and adult environments, upon encounter with
self-antigens, they are less likely to be deleted. Inefficient clonal
deletion could be due to the intrinsic properties of the T cells generated
during this period, or to yet unknown properties of the perinatal thymus.
Such anergic T cells constitute a subset that can further expand in vivo in
an antigen- independent fashion, leaving open the possibility for
self-aggression under the appropriate triggering conditions.
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Facebook 
Reddit 
Technorati 
Twitter What's this?
