Thymic selection of T-cell receptors as an extreme value problem

Andrej Košmrlj, Arup K. Chakraborty, Mehran Kardar, Eugene I. Shakhnovich

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

T lymphocytes (T cells) orchestrate adaptive immune responses upon activation. T-cell activation requires sufficiently strong binding of T-cell receptors on their surface to short peptides (p) derived from foreign proteins, which are bound to major histocompatibility gene products (displayed on antigen-presenting cells). A diverse and self-tolerant T-cell repertoire is selected in the thymus. We map thymic selection processes to an extreme value problem and provide an analytic expression for the amino acid compositions of selected T-cell receptors (which enable its recognition functions).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number068103
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume103
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 7 2009
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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