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CD8 controls T cell cross-reactivity

Linda Wooldridge1, Bruno Laugel, Julia Ekeruche

  • 1Department of Infection, Immunity and Biochemistry, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK. wooldridgel@cardiff.ac.uk

Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
|September 17, 2010
PubMed

Estimates of human αβ TCR diversity suggest that there are <10(8) different Ag receptors in the naive T cell pool, a number that is dwarfed by the potential number of different antigenic peptide-MHC (pMHC) molecules that could be encountered. Consequently, an extremely high degree of cross-reactivity is essential for effective T cell immunity. Ag recognition by T cells is unique in that it involves a coreceptor that binds at a site distinct from the TCR to facilitate productive engagement of the pMHC. In this study, we show that the CD8 coreceptor controls T cell cross-reactivity for pMHCI Ags, thereby ensuring that the peripheral T cell repertoire is optimally poised to negotiate the competing demands of responsiveness in the face of danger and quiescence in the presence of self.

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