Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

High specificity, not degeneracy, allows T cell alloresponses

Alloreactive T cell responses are considered the product of 'degenerate' recognition by T cells of many different complexes of peptide and major histocompatibility complex. New work shows instead that T cell receptor alloresponses are highly 'polyspecific' for such complexes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Possible modes of TCR interaction with different endogenous peptides bound to allogeneic MHC in the course of an alloreactive response.

References

  1. Lindahl, K.F. & Wilson, D.B. J. Exp. Med. 145, 508–522 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Felix, N. et al. Nat. Immunol. 8, 388–397 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Huseby, E.S. et al. Cell 122, 247–260 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Matzinger, P. & Bevan, M.J. Cell. Immunol. 29, 1–5 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hunig, T.R. & Bevan, M.J. J. Exp. Med. 155, 111–125 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bevan, M.J. Immunol. Today 5, 128–130 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Heath, W.R., Kane, K.P., Mescher, M.F. & Sherman, L.A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sc. USA 88, 5101–5105 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Frelinger, J.A. & McMillan, M. Immunol. Rev. 154, 45–58 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Nikolich-Žugich, J. & Bevan, M.J. Nature 344, 65–67 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hogquist, K. et al. Immunity 6, 389–399 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kisielow, P., Bluthmann, H., Staerz, U.D., Steinmetz, M. & von Boehmer, H. Nature 333, 742–746 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nikolich-Žugich, J., Slifka, M.K. & Messaoudi, I. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 4, 123–132 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Mason, D. Immunol. Today 19, 395–404 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Nesic, D., Maric, M., Santori, F.R. & Vukmanovic, S. Transplantation 73, 797–803 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nikolich-Žugich, J. High specificity, not degeneracy, allows T cell alloresponses. Nat Immunol 8, 335–337 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0407-335

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0407-335

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing