T-CELL DEVELOPMENT, SURVIVAL, AND SIGNALING - A NEW CONCEPT OF THE ROLE OF SELF-PEPTIDE - SELF-MHC COMPLEXES

In this article, Charles A. Janeway and colleagues propose a role for self-peptide:self-MHC complexes in the positive selection of T cells i n the thymus and their survival in the periphery, based on their studi es in TcR beta-chain transgenic mice. They appraise this model in the light of current concepts of T-cell activation and autoimmunity.