Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Fast PCR and Fast Real-Time PCR Instruments

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 29 October 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5441, p. 869
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5441.869g
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

This Week in Science

T cells may not have an "appetite," but Huang et al. (p. 952) report that T cells can ingest the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins bound to a specific antigenic peptide. Internalization begins within minutes, and the internalized MHC-peptide complex is taken to an acidic compartment. However, while the MHC-peptide complex is on the surface of the T cell, it could serve as a target for other T cells that have the same specificity. Thus, the T cell could be destroyed by its comrades. If this process also happened in vivo, it could be a mechanism by which T cells are "exhausted" when large concentrations of antigen are present.




ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)