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Private specificities of heterologous immunity
1Department of Pathology and Program in Immunology and Virology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. raymond.welsh@umassmed.edu
Abstract:
Antiviral T-cell responses between individuals that have similar major histocompatibility complex molecules share similarities in epitope hierarchies and T-cell receptor variable gene usage (public specificities), yet the T-cell receptor amino acid sequences differ between individuals (private specificities). The significance of the private specificities of these repertoires is brought about under conditions of heterologous immunity and might have important consequences in anti-viral immunity and immunopathology.
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