Antigen-specific precursor frequency impacts T cell proliferation, differentiation, and requirement for costimulation.

ABSTRACT: After a brief period of antigenic stimulation, T cells become committed to a program of autonomous expansion and differentiation. We investigated the role of antigen-specific T cell precursor frequency as a possible cell-extrinsic factor impacting T cell programming in a model of allogeneic tissue transplantation. Using an adoptive transfer system to incrementally raise the precursor frequency of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells, we found that donor-reactive T cells primed at low frequency exhibited increased cellular division, decreased development of multifunctional effector activity, and an increased requirement for CD28- and CD154-mediated costimulation relative to those primed at high frequency. The results demonstrated that recipients with low CD4(+) and CD8(+) donor-reactive T cell f

SUBMITTER: Ford ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2118720 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature