Control of T cell antigen reactivity via programmed TCR downregulation Journal Article


Authors: Gallegos, A. M.; Xiong, H. Z.; Leiner, I. M.; Susac, B.; Glickman, M. S.; Pamer, E. G.; van Heijst, J. W. J.
Article Title: Control of T cell antigen reactivity via programmed TCR downregulation
Abstract: The T cell antigen receptor (TCR) is unique in that its affinity for ligand is unknown before encounter and can vary by orders of magnitude. How the immune system regulates individual T cells that display very different reactivity to antigen remains unclear. Here we found that activated CD4(+) T cells, at the peak of clonal expansion, persistently downregulated their TCR expression in proportion to the strength of the initial antigen recognition. This programmed response increased the threshold for cytokine production and recall proliferation in a clone-specific manner and ultimately excluded clones with the highest antigen reactivity. Thus, programmed downregulation of TCR expression represents a negative feedback mechanism for constraining T cell effector function with a suitable time delay to thereby allow pathogen control while avoiding excess inflammatory damage.
Keywords: peptide; in-vivo; receptor affinity; differentiation; mhc; complexes; clonal expansion; immune-response; mycobacterium-tuberculosis infection; repertoire selection
Journal Title: Nature Immunology
Volume: 17
Issue: 4
ISSN: 1529-2908
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group  
Date Published: 2016-04-01
Start Page: 379
End Page: 386
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:000372508000011
DOI: 10.1038/ni.3386
PROVIDER: wos
PMCID: PMC4803589
PUBMED: 26901151
Notes: Article -- Source: Wos
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MSK Authors
  1. Eric Pamer
    283 Pamer
  2. Ingrid Leiner
    49 Leiner
  3. Michael Glickman
    109 Glickman
  4. Huizhong Xiong
    7 Xiong
  5. Boze Susac
    8 Susac