Receptors Involved in T Cell Activation

Abstract

T lymphocytes are able to respond specifically to a diverse set of foreign determinants. Among the molecules which are critical in regulating the immune system is the elusive T cell receptor for antigens. After years of speculation, the molecular nature of the T cell receptor has at last begun to emerge. Thus, biochemical studies of T cell clones and T cell hybrids have identified the clonotypic structure which determines antigen specificity as a 90 Kd heterodimeric disulfide-linked molecule comprising two chains of 40–45 Kd (α chain) and 42–44 Kd (β chain). cDNA clones encoding the β subunit of the T cell antigen receptor have been isolated in mouse and man and are the subject of intensive investigation. The workshop was devoted to the molecular nature of the (β chain of the T cell receptor and some of the biological consequences of T cell activation.