[HTML][HTML] A single autoimmune T cell receptor recognizes more than a million different peptides

L Wooldridge, J Ekeruche-Makinde… - Journal of Biological …, 2012 - ASBMB
The T cell receptor (TCR) orchestrates immune responses by binding to foreign peptides
presented at the cell surface in the context of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
molecules. Effective immunity requires that all possible foreign peptide-MHC molecules are
recognized or risks leaving holes in immune coverage that pathogens could quickly evolve
to exploit. It is unclear how a limited pool of< 10 8 human TCRs can successfully provide
immunity to the vast array of possible different peptides that could be produced from 20 …