| First Author | Helft J | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Blood | Volume | 112 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 1249-58 |
| PubMed ID | 18539897 | Mgi Jnum | J:138401 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3805123 | Doi | 10.1182/blood-2007-09-114389 |
| Citation | Helft J, et al. (2008) Antigen-specific T-T interactions regulate CD4 T-cell expansion. Blood 112(4):1249-58 |
| abstractText | The regulation of CD4 T-cell numbers during an immune response should take account of the amount of antigen (Ag), the initial frequency of Ag-specific T cells, the mix of naive versus experienced cells, and (ideally) the diversity of the repertoire. Here we describe a novel mechanism of T-cell regulation that potentially deals with all of these parameters. We found that CD4 T cells establish a negative feedback loop by capturing their cognate major histocompatibility class (MHC)/peptide complexes from Ag-presenting cells and presenting them to Ag-experienced CD4 T cells, thereby inhibiting their recruitment into the response while allowing recruitment of naive T cells. The inhibition is Ag specific, begins at day 2 (long before Ag disappearance), and cannot be overcome by providing new Ag-loaded dendritic cells. In this way, CD4 T-cell proliferation is regulated in a functional relationship to the amount of Ag, while allowing naive T cells to generate repertoire variety. |
