| Themes > Science > Life Sciences > General Biology > Immunology > Recognition Systems in Immunity > The T cell Receptor for Antigen > MHC restriction |
The term MHC restriction refers to the phenomenon whereby T cells from one individual recognising antigen X fail to recognise cells presenting the same antigen unless the presenting cells express one or more MHC alleles identical to those on the cortical thymic epithelial cells (see below) of the individual in which those T cells matured (these alleles will be those expressed by the T cell in a normal animal). This phenomenon derives in part from the requirement to recognise self MHC and in part from the different peptide binding specificity of different MHC alleles. Click here to see a summary of MHC restriction Click here to see a diagram showing the role of the thymus in MHC restriction |
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