| First Author | McNeil LK | Year | 2002 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 7 | Pages | 4520-5 |
| PubMed ID | 11904393 | Mgi Jnum | J:134749 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3789760 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.072673899 |
| Citation | McNeil LK, et al. (2002) Dissociation of peripheral T cell responses from thymocyte negative selection by weak agonists supports a spare receptor model of T cell activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99(7):4520-5 |
| abstractText | We have focused on stability of the peptide-MHC complex as a determining factor of ligand potency for thymocytes and peripheral CD4+ T cell responses. MHC variant peptides that have low affinities and fast dissociation rates are different in that they stimulate proliferation and cytolysis of mature T cells (classifying the variant peptides as weak agonists) but do not induce thymocyte negative selection. The MHC variant weak agonists require significant receptor reserve, because decreasing the level of T cell receptor on mature T cells blocks the proliferative response. These results demonstrate that peripheral T cells are more sensitive to MHC variant ligands by virtue of increased T cell receptor expression; in addition, the data support a T cell model of the spare receptor theory. |
