Abstract
THYMOCYTES are selected for expression of αβ T-cell antigen receptors (TCR) which recognize antigen in conjunction with self-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules1,2. In the thymus the restriction element is imprinted on radioresistant stromal elements3–7 and on cells of haematopoietic origin8–10. In mice negative for β2-microglobulin that are devoid of mature cytotoxic T lymphocytes11, we find that intrathymic injection of different fibroblasts causes the maturation of CD4−CD8+TCRhigh thymocytes with distinct patterns of TCR Vβ distribution. Here we show that in TCR-transgenic mice, intrathymic injection of L cells expressing the selecting (H–2Kb) molecule (H–2Kb cells) reconstitutes the maturation of thymocytes bearing the transgenic TCR, and that in normal B10.BR (H–2k) mice, H–2Kb molecules expressed on L–Kb cells lead to the development of T lymphocytes with recognition restricted to H–2Kb. A class I MHC restriction element can thus be selected by interaction with fibroblasts, that is, cells of other than epithelial or haematopoietic origin3–10.
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Pawlowski, T., Elliott, J., Loh, D. et al. Positive selection of T lymphocytes on fibroblasts. Nature 364, 642–645 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/364642a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/364642a0
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