Transgenic mice expressing a T cell receptor heterodimer specific for a fragment of pigeon cytochrome c plus an MHC class II molecule (I-Ek) have been made. We find that H-2k αβ transgenic mice have an overall increase in the number of T cells and express a 10-fold higher fraction of cytochrome c-reactive cells than H-2b mice. Surface staining of thymocytes indicates that in H-2b mice, T cell development is arrested at an intermediate stage of differentiation (CD4+8+, CD3lo). Analyses of mice carrying these T cell receptor genes and MHC class II I-Eα constructs indicate that this developmental block can be reversed in H-2b mice by I-E expression on cortical epithelial cells of the thymus. These data suggest that a direct T cell receptor-MHC interaction occurs in the thymus in the absence of nominal antigen and results in the enhanced export of T cells, consistent with the concept of "positive selection.". © 1989.
CITATION STYLE
Berg, L. J., Pullen, A. M., Fazekas de St. Groth, B., Mathis, D., Benoist, C., & Davis, M. M. (1989). Antigen/MHC-specific T cells are preferentially exported from the thymus in the presence of their MHC ligand. Cell, 58(6), 1035–1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(89)90502-3
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