Apoptosis in the development of the immune system: growth factors, clonal selection and bcl-2

The mammalian immune system is essential for surviving challenge infections with a great range of potential pathogens. The protective effect produced is dependent on many different types of cells which require flexible and independent production and regulation. In particular, many important responses are carried out by lymphocytes, which recognise foreign antigen through exquisitely specific receptors: i.e. surface immunoglobulin (sIg) on B lymphocytes and the T cell receptor (TCR) on T lymphocytes. Each lymphocyte displays receptors with a single specificity, allowing cells with particular specificities to be regulated independently. Since millions of different Igs and TCRs are expressed, the precise selection and regulation of each T and B cell population to produce a useful self-tolerant repertoire is a very complex process. Control of cell populations can, in theory, be exercised at a number of levels, including modulation of active cell death by apoptosis. Recent research has demonstrated that regulation of apoptosis is indeed a crucial element in the control of the immune system in general, and in the development of the TCR and Ig repertoires in particular. The molecular analysis of apoptosis now takes a high priority and the proto-oncogene bcl-2 appears to be responsible for specific suppression of apoptosis in several important situations. It is also clear that malfunctions affecting apoptosis, and in particular bcl-2, can result in significant progression towards malignancy.