The establishment of CD4(+) T cell tolerance requires that self-reactive th
ymocytes are negatively selected during thymic development. A threshold of
antigen concentration appears to exist for both MHC class I- and class II-m
ediated negative selection, below which clonal deletion of a self-reactive
transgenic TCR does not occur. Similarly, both the specificity and thymic c
oncentration of MHC molecules affect the efficiency with which autoreactive
thymocytes are deleted. However, this threshold for MHC class II concentra
tion has not been well established. Here, we show that this threshold must
be extraordinarily low. We have used the human lysozyme promoter to re-expr
ess an A(beta)(b) cDNA on macrophages and other phagocytic myelomonocytic c
ells of class Il-deficient A(beta)(b) -/- mice. Surface expression of I-Ab
could be detected on mature peritoneal macrophages and, minimally, on thymi
c dendritic cells; however, this level of expression was not sufficient for
antigen-specific T cell activation. Nevertheless, when backcrossed onto an
autoreactive K14 background, this minimal level of class II was sufficient
to induce negative selection of a polyclonal self-reactive population. We
conclude that provision of extremely low levels of class II to thymic dendr
itic cells confers on them the ability to mediate clonal deletion of autore
active T cells.