The Journal of Experimental Medicine
VeriKine-HS Human Interferon-Beta Serum
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 110K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JEM
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Davey, G. M.
Right arrow Articles by Hogquist, K. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Davey, G. M.
Right arrow Articles by Hogquist, K. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?
© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1998/11/1867/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 188, Number 10, November 16, 1998 1867-1874

Articles

Preselection Thymocytes Are More Sensitive to T Cell Receptor Stimulation Than Mature T Cells

Gayle M. Davey, Sonya L. Schober, Bart T. Endrizzi, Angela K. Dutcher, Stephen C. Jameson, and Kristin A. Hogquist

From the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

During T cell development, thymocytes which are tolerant to self-peptides but reactive to foreign peptides are selected. The current model for thymocyte selection proposes that self-peptide–major histocompatibility complex (MHC) complexes that bind the T cell receptor with low affinity will promote positive selection while those with high affinity will result in negative selection. Upon thymocyte maturation, such low affinity self-peptide–MHC ligands no longer provoke a response, but foreign peptides can incidentally be high affinity ligands and can therefore stimulate T cells. For this model to work, thymocytes must be more sensitive to ligand than mature T cells. Contrary to this expectation, several groups have shown that thymocytes are less responsive than mature T cells to anti-T cell receptor for antigen (TCR)/CD3 mAb stimulation. Additionally, the lower TCR levels on thymocytes, compared with T cells, would potentially correlate with decreased thymocyte sensitivity. Here we compared preselection thymocytes and mature T cells for early activation events in response to peptide–MHC ligands. Remarkably, the preselection thymocytes were more responsive than mature T cells when stimulated with low affinity peptide variants, while both populations responded equally well to the antigenic peptide. This directly demonstrates the increased sensitivity of thymocytes compared with T cells for TCR engagement by peptide–MHC complexes.

Key Words: T cell receptor • thymus • lymphocyte development • calcium • signaling

Address correspondence to Kristin A. Hogquist or Stephen C. Jameson, Box 334 FUMC, 420 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: 612-626-2403; Fax: 612-625-2199; E-mail: hogqu001{at}tc.umn.edu or james024{at}tc.umn.edu

Abbreviations used: DP, double positive; MESF, molecules of equivalent soluble fluorescence; PEC, peritoneal exudate cells; SP, single positive; Tg, transgenic.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search
TABLE OF CONTENTS