Abstract
T lymphocytes express receptors (T-cell receptor) that are not only specific for antigenic peptide but also molecules encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) that present peptide on the surface of cells (MHC-restricted antigen recognition). However, the vast majority of T cells are tolerant to their own MHC molecules and do not give rise to autoimmune disease. This MHC-restricted, but tolerant, repertoire of T cells is determined by selection triggered by the appropriate recognition of peptide/MHC on thymic stromal cell by immature thymocytes. We have developed a fetal thymus organ culture (FTOC) system based on transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) 1-deficient mice to examine the role of peptide/MHC in triggering the differentiation of T cells restricted to class I MHC (positive selection). We also describe an FTOC system to study central T-cell tolerance, which occurs through clonal deletion in the thymus (negative selection).
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© 2007 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Ashton-Rickardt, P.G. (2007). Studying T-Cell Repertoire Selection Using Fetal Thymus Organ Culture. In: Fairchild, P.J. (eds) Immunological Tolerance. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 380. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-395-0_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-395-0_10
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-652-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-395-0
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