Functional avidity maturation of CD8+ T cells without selection of higher affinity TCR

Mark K. Slifka, J. Lindsay Whitton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

318 Scopus citations

Abstract

Unlike B cells, T cells lack the capacity to improve the affinity of their antigen receptors by somatic mutation. It is, therefore, believed that optimization of cellular immunity is mediated almost exclusively through selective expansion of T cells bearing receptors with the highest affinity for antigen. We show here that T cell responsiveness to peptide (termed "functional avidity") increased>50-fold during the early stages of viral infection. This indicated that T cells, like B cells, undergo extensive functional maturation in vivo. However, in contrast to B cells, maturation of the T cell response can occur without any appreciable change in T cell receptor affinity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)711-717
Number of pages7
JournalNature Immunology
Volume2
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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