Abstract
THE thymus positively selects thymocytes that bear T-cell receptors which recognize antigen presented by self major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins1,2. Positive selection is usually driven by MHC products on radiation-resistant cortical epithelial cells3–5. It is unknown whether positive selection is mediated by all thymic epithelial cells or by some specialized subsets4. Here we introduce an H–2b-expressing thymic epithelial cell line into the thymuses of lethally irradiated H–2k animals reconstituted with H–2b/k F1 BM or fetal liver cells. I–Ab-restricted T cells are found in these animals, demonstrating that selection occurs on the introduced epithelial cells.
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Hugo, P., Kappler, J., Godfrey, D. et al. A cell line that can induce thymocyte positive selection. Nature 360, 679–682 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/360679a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/360679a0
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