| First Author | Singh NJ | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 735-46 |
| PubMed ID | 23021952 | Mgi Jnum | J:188563 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5441114 | Doi | 10.1016/j.immuni.2012.08.008 |
| Citation | Singh NJ, et al. (2012) Subsets of Nonclonal Neighboring CD4(+) T Cells Specifically Regulate the Frequency of Individual Antigen-Reactive T Cells. Immunity 37(4):735-46 |
| abstractText | After an immune response, the expanded population of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells contract to steady state levels. We have found that the contraction is neither cell-autonomous nor mediated by competition for generic trophic factors, but regulated by relatively rare subsets of neighboring CD4(+) T cells not necessarily of a conventional regulatory T cell lineage. These regulators, referred to as deletors, specifically limit the frequency of particular antigen-specific T cells even though they are not reactive to the same agonist as their targets. Instead, an isolated deletor could outcompete the target for recognition of a shared, nonstimulatory endogenous peptide-MHC ligand. This mechanism was sufficient to prevent even agonist-driven autoimmune disease in a lymphopenic environment. Such a targeted regulation of homeostasis within narrow colonies of T cells with related TCR specificities for subthreshold ligands might help to prevent the loss of unrelated TCRs during multiple responses, preserving the valuable diversity of the repertoire. |
