THE NATURE OF MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX RECOGNITION BY GAMMA-DELTA-T-CELLS

Despite intensive efforts, the general rules for gammadelta T cell rec ognition remain undefined. Here, we take advantage of the detailed kno wledge of the molecular structure and biosynthetic pathways of major h istocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules to analyze the recognition p roperties of the gammadelta T cell clones LBK5 (specific for the class II MHC, IE(k)) and G8 (specific for the nonclassical class I MHC, TL1 0b). We find that the activation of these clones requires neither clas s I nor class II antigen-processing and that peptides do not confer sp ecificity. Epitope mapping also shows that the topology of gammadelta T cell receptor interaction with the MHC is distinct from that of alph abeta T cells. These results suggest that the molecular nature of gamm adelta T cell recognition is fundamentally different than that of alph abeta T cells.