Unresponsiveness to a foreign antigen can be caused by self-tolerance |
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Authors: | D Vidovi? P Matzinger |
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Affiliation: | Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland. |
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Abstract: | In mice, two sets of genes govern the immune response to the synthetic antigen GT. One maps to the major histocompatibility complex and behaves like a typical immune response gene. The second is a background gene encoding a cell surface structure found on B cells. Mice which express, and are therefore tolerant of, one form of this structure do not respond to GT. Thus, tolerance of self generates holes in the T-cell repertoire, partially crippling the immune system. |
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