The frequency of antigen-specific T cells is regulated by self-specific non-clonal neighbors
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ABSTRACT: In order to repeatedly mount successful immune responses against a wide range of pathogens, vertebrates must maintain sufficient numbers of diversely specific T cells over a long time. The cellular principles ensuring this are not clear. We show that the density of an antigen-specific T cell population is regulated by neighboring T cells not specific for the same antigen. Their activity is nevertheless T cell specific, due to the shared recognition of a self-peptide. Such regulation was sufficient to prevent autoimmune arthritis even in a lymphopenic model system without other regulatory T cells. This homeostatic strategy, based on the specific recognition of unique sub-threshold ligands, avoids excessive loss of bystander specificities during multiple immune responses, preserving the valuable diversity of the T cell repertoire.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE35220 | GEO | 2013/01/01
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA150651
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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