Overview
- Editors:
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Tak W. Mak
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The Ontario Cancer Institute and Department of Medicine Biophysics and Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
Pages i-xvii
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- Nicolette Caccia, Tak W. Mak
Pages 1-7
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- Nicolette Caccia, Barry Toyonaga, Nobuhiro Kimura, Tak W. Mak
Pages 9-51
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- A. Neil Barclay, Pauline Johnson, Geoff W. McCaughan, Alan F. Williams
Pages 53-87
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- Dennis Y. Loh, Mark A. Behlke, Hubert S. Chou
Pages 89-99
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- Nicolette Caccia, Rosanne Spolski, Tak W. Mak
Pages 101-115
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- Cox Terhorst, Benjamin Berkhout, Balbino Alarcon, Hans Clevers, Katia Georgopoulos, Daniel Gold et al.
Pages 117-132
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- Bernard Manger, John Imboden, Arthur Weiss
Pages 133-149
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- J. Slingerland, H. Griesser, T. W. Mak, M. D. Minden
Pages 151-174
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- Ilan R. Kirsch, Gregory F. Hollis
Pages 175-194
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- Nicolette Caccia, Yoshihiro Takihara, Tak W. Mak
Pages 205-227
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Back Matter
Pages 229-235
About this book
The importance of thymus-dependent cells, or T cells, in the generation of a successful immune response was first realized in the early sixties. In the follow ing two decades, a succession of elegant experiments established the antigen specificity of T cells and their ability to perform both as regulatory and effector cells. T cells were shown to be essential in most immune reactions, playing a crucial role in augmenting the activity of effector T and B cells against 'foreign' antigen, as well as in the suppression of effector activity against self antigens. The means by which T cells differentiate 'foreign' from 'self' antigens is based on their recognition of antigen almost exclusively in the context of self major histocompatibility complex products, unlike B cells, which recognize an tigen alone. It is this recognition, mediated by the T-cell receptor, that sets into motion the diverse cell-cell interactions, which control the differentiation and regulation of the immune response. Although its importance was well established, the molecular nature of the T-cell receptor remained elusive for two decades. Many hypotheses as to its structure and precise function were put forward, using immunoglobulin as a basis for conjecture, but "the Holy Grail of Immunology" remained ephemeral until three years ago. In the ensuing years, both immunologists and molecular biologists have contributed to an explosion of data unsurpassed by any previous period in the field.
Editors and Affiliations
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The Ontario Cancer Institute and Department of Medicine Biophysics and Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Tak W. Mak
