MHC-Restricted T-cell Recognition
The Basis of Immune Surveillance
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
IN 1973, immunology was preoccupied with graft rejection and immune responses against model antigens. The biological function of transplantation antigens coded by the major histocompatibility gene complex (MHC) was unknown; clearly its function was not to render organ transplantation difficult. This changed when MHC restriction of T-cell recognition was discovered by two young immunologists. The historical background to this effort is discussed in the accompanying article by Peter Doherty.1 This article describes the experiments that were done at that time, summarizes subsequent advances that led to our current understanding of how T cells work, and discusses some of the consequences for clinical medicine.
EXPERIMENTAL CHANCE AND DISCOVERY After an internship in Basel and studies in Lausanne with H. Isliber, I obtained a Swiss fellowship to work with R. V. Blanden and Peter Doherty in G. Ada's department in Canberra. Peter Doherty and I joined forces to analyze the nature
Footnotes
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Dr Zinkernagel is the recipient of the 1995 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award.
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Reprint requests to Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital of Zurich, Schmelzbergstr 12, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland (Dr Zinkernagel).
