scholarly journals Michael Bevan: Setting up T cell selection

2007 ◽  
Vol 204 (11) ◽  
pp. 2499-2499
Author(s):  
Hema Bashyam

In the 1970s, Michael Bevan showed that T cells only recognize antigens in cells that have the same type of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule present in the thymus where the T cells mature. His work provided the first clues to how thymic self-MHC molecules select the cells that make up the mature T cell repertoire.

2000 ◽  
Vol 191 (5) ◽  
pp. 805-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Obst ◽  
Nikolai Netuschil ◽  
Karsten Klopfer ◽  
Stefan Stevanović ◽  
Hans-Georg Rammensee

By analyzing T cell responses against foreign major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules loaded with peptide libraries and defined self- and viral peptides, we demonstrate a profound influence of self-MHC molecules on the repertoire of alloreactive T cells: the closer the foreign MHC molecule is related to the T cell's MHC, the higher is the proportion of peptide-specific, alloreactive (“allorestricted”) T cells versus T cells recognizing the foreign MHC molecule without regard to the peptide in the groove. Thus, the peptide repertoire of alloreactive T cells must be influenced by self-MHC molecules during positive or negative thymic selection or peripheral survival, much like the repertoire of the self-restricted T cells. In consequence, allorestricted, peptide-specific T cells (that are of interest for clinical applications) are easier to obtain if T cells and target cells express related MHC molecules.


1992 ◽  
Vol 176 (6) ◽  
pp. 1611-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Catipović ◽  
J Dal Porto ◽  
M Mage ◽  
T E Johansen ◽  
J P Schneck

Serologically distinct forms of H-2Kb are stabilized by loading cells expressing "empty" class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules with different H-2Kb binding peptides. The H-2Kb epitope recognized by monoclonal antibody (mAb) 28.8.6 was stabilized by ovalbumin (OVA) (257-264) and murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) pp89 (168-176) peptides, but not by vesicular stomatic virus nucleoprotein (VSV NP) (52-59) and influenza NP (Y345-360) peptides. The H-2Kb epitope recognized by mAb 34.4.20 was stabilized by VSV NP (52-59) peptide but not by OVA (257-264), MCMV pp89 (168-176), or influenza NP (Y345-360) peptides. Immunoprecipitation of H-2Kb molecules from normal cells showed that 28.8.6 and 34.4.20 epitopes were only present on a subset of all conformationally reactive H-2Kb molecules. Using alanine-substituted derivatives of the VSV peptide, the 28.8.6 epitope was completely stabilized by substitution of the first residue and partially stabilized by substitution of the third or the fifth residues in the peptides. These results indicate that distinct conformational MHC epitopes are dependent on the specific peptide that occupies the antigenic peptide binding groove on individual MHC molecules. The changes in MHC epitopes observed may also be important in understanding the diversity of T cell receptors used in an immune response and the influence of peptides on development of the T cell repertoire.


1998 ◽  
Vol 188 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshinori Fukui ◽  
Osamu Hashimoto ◽  
Ayumi Inayoshi ◽  
Takahiro Gyotoku ◽  
Tetsuro Sano ◽  
...  

The T cell repertoire is shaped by positive and negative selection of thymocytes through the interaction of α/β-T cell receptors (TCR) with self-peptides bound to self-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. However, the involvement of specific TCR-peptide contacts in positive selection remains unclear. By fixing TCR-β chains with a single rearranged TCR-β irrelevant to the selecting ligand, we show here that T cells selected to mature on a single MHC–peptide complex express highly restricted TCR-α chains in terms of Vα usage and amino acid residue of their CDR3 loops, whereas such restriction was not observed with those selected by the same MHC with diverse sets of self-peptides including this peptide. Thus, we visualized the TCR structure required to survive positive selection directed by this single ligand. Our findings provide definitive evidence that specific recognition of self-peptides by TCR could be involved in positive selection of thymocytes.


1990 ◽  
Vol 172 (5) ◽  
pp. 1341-1346 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Benichou ◽  
P A Takizawa ◽  
P T Ho ◽  
C C Killion ◽  
C A Olson ◽  
...  

Mechanisms involved in self-antigen processing and presentation are crucial in understanding the induction of self-tolerance in the thymus. We examined the immunogenicity of determinants from major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules that are expressed in the thymus and have tested peptides derived from the polymorphic regions of class I and class II molecules. We found that two peptides corresponding to NH2 termini of the class II alpha and beta chains (Ak alpha 1-18 and Ak beta 1-16) could bind to self-Ak molecules with high affinity and, surprisingly, were immunogenic in that they could elicit strong proliferative T cell responses in B10.A mice (Ak, Ek). Neonatal injection of peptide Ak beta 1-16 resulted in complete unresponsiveness to this peptide at 8 wk of age showing that these T cells were susceptible to tolerance induction. We have also tested certain class I MHC peptides and showed that some can interact efficiently with class II MHC peptides to induce an autoreactive T cell proliferative response. Among these class I peptides is one (Dd 61-85) that has the capacity to bind to self-Ia without being immunogenic, and therefore represents an MHC determinant that had induced thymic self-tolerance. We conclude that some self-MHC molecules can be processed into peptides that can be presented in the context of intact class II molecules at the surface of antigen-presenting cells. Autoreactive T cells recognizing optimally processed self-peptide/MHC complexes are eliminated during development, whereas other potentially autoreactive T cells escape clonal inactivation or deletion. Incomplete tolerance to self-antigens enriches the T cell repertoire despite the fact that such T cells may eventually become involved in autoimmune disease.


1998 ◽  
Vol 187 (11) ◽  
pp. 1871-1883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Gapin ◽  
Yoshinori Fukui ◽  
Jean Kanellopoulos ◽  
Tetsuro Sano ◽  
Armanda Casrouge ◽  
...  

The positive selection of CD4+ T cells requires the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules in the thymus, but the role of self-peptides complexed to class II molecules is still a matter of debate. Recently, it was observed that transgenic mice expressing a single peptide–MHC class II complex positively select significant numbers of diverse CD4+ T cells in the thymus. However, the number of selected T cell specificities has not been evaluated so far. Here, we have sequenced 700 junctional complementarity determining regions 3 (CDR3) from T cell receptors (TCRs) carrying Vβ11-Jβ1.1 or Vβ12-Jβ1.1 rearrangements. We found that a single peptide–MHC class II complex positively selects at least 105 different Vβ rearrangements. Our data yield a first evaluation of the size of the T cell repertoire. In addition, they provide evidence that the single Eα52-68–I-Ab complex skews the amino acid frequency in the TCR CDR3 loop of positively selected T cells. A detailed analysis of CDR3 sequences indicates that a fraction of the β chain repertoire bears the imprint of the selecting self-peptide.


1994 ◽  
Vol 180 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kirberg ◽  
A Baron ◽  
S Jakob ◽  
A Rolink ◽  
K Karjalainen ◽  
...  

We describe mice that express a transgenic T cell receptor alpha/beta (TCR-alpha/beta) specific for peptide 111-119 from influenza hemagglutinin presented by I-Ed class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The transgenic TCR is expressed on CD4+8- as well as CD4-8+ mature T cells even in mice that are deficient in rearrangement or do not express endogenous TCR-alpha genes. The CD4-8+ T cells require I-Ed class II MHC molecules for positive selection and can be activated to proliferate and to kill by I-Ed molecules presenting the relevant peptide. Full maturation of these cells, however, also requires the presence of class I MHC molecules. The results are compatible with the notion that T cell maturation requires multiple receptor-ligand interactions and establish an exception to the rule that class II-restricted TCRs are exclusively expressed by mature CD4+8- cells.


1997 ◽  
Vol 186 (8) ◽  
pp. 1269-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Kirberg ◽  
Anton Berns ◽  
Harald von Boehmer

In the thymus, T cells are selected according to their T cell receptor (TCR) specificity. After positive selection, mature cells are exported from primary lymphoid organs to seed the secondary lymphoid tissue. An important question is whether survival of mature T cells is an intrinsic property or requires continuous survival signals, i.e., engagement of the TCR by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules in the periphery, perhaps in a similar way as occurring during thymic positive selection. To address this issue we used recombination-activating gene (Rag)-deficient H-2b mice expressing a transgenic TCR restricted by I-Ed class II MHC molecules. After engraftment with Rag−/− H-2d fetal thymi, CD4+8− peripheral T cells emerged. These cells were isolated and transferred into immunodeficient hosts of H-2b or H-2d haplotype, some of the latter being common cytokine receptor γ chain deficient to exclude rejection of H-2b donor cells by host natural killer cells. Our results show that in the absence, but not in the presence, of selecting MHC molecules, peripheral mature T cells are short lived and disappear within 7 wk, indicating that continuous contact of the TCR with selecting MHC molecules is required for survival of T cells.


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