First Author | Rajasekar R | Year | 1993 |
Journal | J Exp Med | Volume | 178 |
Issue | 5 | Pages | 1713-24 |
PubMed ID | 7693855 | Mgi Jnum | J:15660 |
Mgi Id | MGI:63777 | Doi | 10.1084/jem.178.5.1713 |
Citation | Rajasekar R, et al. (1993) In Mls-1a mice, fetal-type beta-gene rearrangements are frequent among self-anergic V beta 6 T cells. J Exp Med 178(5):1713-24 |
abstractText | T lymphocytes generated in the fetal and neonatal period are characterized by T cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements that lack N region nucleotides (fetal-type TCR). Using fetal-type TCR as a lineage marker, we show that such T cells are long-lived and persist in the periphery of adult mice. Moreover, in both neonatal and adult environments, upon encounter with self-antigens, they are less likely to be deleted. Inefficient clonal deletion could be due to the intrinsic properties of the T cells generated during this period, or to yet unknown properties of the perinatal thymus. Such anergic T cells constitute a subset that can further expand in vivo in an antigen-independent fashion, leaving open the possibility for self-aggression under the appropriate triggering conditions. |