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Evidence from in vitro studies that tolerance to self antigens is MHC-restricted

Abstract

Mature T cells respond to foreign antigens in the context of self major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-encoded products: T helper cells recognize antigen in the context of class II1,2 molecules, while cytotoxic T cells (CTL) recognize antigen plus class I molecules3–6. Recent evidence suggests that the MHC-restricted T cell is unable to recognize either the foreign antigen or the self-MHC product alone, but only a complex of the two7–9. Unresponsiveness to self antigens—self tolerance—implies the deletion or suppression of clones of T cells having reactivity to self antigens10,11. Here we demonstrate the presence in normal mice of T cells which recognize self antigens together with allogeneic MHC products. This finding suggests the MHC restriction of T-cell recognition during the entire process of T-cell ontogeny, that is, MHC restriction of self tolerance.

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Rammensee, HG., Bevan, M. Evidence from in vitro studies that tolerance to self antigens is MHC-restricted. Nature 308, 741–744 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/308741a0

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