How does the body achieve the functional silencing of antigen reactive clones?
The central tenet of the immune system is the ability to recognise and remove non-self components without affecting self components. The T cells and B cells of the immune system express a vast repertoire of antigen receptors. It is thought that the germline TCR repertoire is composed of in the region of at least 109 different specificities. Considering the potential number of antigens that may be bound by these receptors it is inevitable that a proportion of them will be targeted against self components.
Tolerance in the T cell repertoire.
Central tolerance.
three T cell mechanisms for self tolerance: clonal deletion, clonal anergy and antigen specific suppressor T cells.
Burnet proposed theory of clonal deletion in 1955.
…
