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T cell anergy
Author(s) -
Lasalle Janine M.,
Hafler David A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.8.9.8005388
Subject(s) - clonal anergy , antigen , immunology , cytotoxic t cell , antigen presentation , t cell , clonal deletion , biology , antigen presenting cell , major histocompatibility complex , microbiology and biotechnology , immune system , t cell receptor , in vitro , genetics
T cell clonal anergy is a proposed mechanism of immunologic self tolerance in which T cells become functionally inactivated after previous stimulation. MHC class II‐restricted antigen presentation by different cell types has been speculated to have a role in determining activation vs. anergy in responding T cells. Human T cells express MHC class II after activation and have been shown to present high concentrations of degraded peptide antigen to autologous T cells resulting in clonal anergy. In contrast to low antigen dose T cell clonal anergy, which occurs in the absence of costimulation, T cell anergy induced by human T cell presentation of antigen results in both primary proliferation and secondary unresponsiveness to high‐dose antigenic stimulation. Although clonal anergy was previously thought to prevent autoreactive T cells from ever responding to self antigen presented without costimulation, we postulate that T cell presentation of antigen represents a “fail‐safe” mechanism of immunologic self tolerance that would anergize clonally expanded autoreactive T cells when they are surrounded by a high extracellular concentration of degraded self antigen.— LaSalle, J. M., Hafler, D. A. T cell anergy. FASEB J. 8: 601‐608; 1994.