Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Schaeffer, Ellen B.
• Sette, Alessandro
• Johnson, Doris L.
• Bekoff, Marjorie C.
• Smith, John A.
• Grey, Howard M.
• Buus, Soren

Titel

Relative Contribution of "Determinant Selection" and "Holes in the T-Cell Repertoire" to T-Cell Responses

Ist Teil von

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 1989-06, Vol.86 (12), p.4649-4653

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Erscheinungsjahr

1989

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Using BALB/c and CBA/J mice, the I-region associated (Ia) binding capacity and T-cell immunogenicity of a panel of 14 overlapping peptides that span the entire sequence of the protein staphylococcal nuclease (Nase) was examined to evaluate major histocompatibility gene complex (MHC) control of T-cell responses. Ia binding and Ia-restricted T-cell immunogenicity could be determined for a total of 54 peptide--MHC combinations. Only 30% of the 54 instances examined involved detectable Ia binding, but they represented almost all (12 of 13) of the immune responses found. However, binding to Ia was not sufficient to ensure T-cell immunogenicity, since only 70% of the binding events were productive--i.e., were associated with an immune response. Thus, Ia molecules have the expected characteristics of a highly permissive capacity for antigen interaction that allows them to function as restriction elements for a large universe of antigens. On the other hand, since the Ia molecules cannot distinguish between self and non-self, not all antigen--Ia interactions would be permitted to elicit a T-cell response. It appears that both Ia binding ("determinant selection") and T-cell repertoire act in concert to define the immune response status of an individual toward any particular T-cell epitope.