POSITIVE SELECTION OF GAMMA-DELTA T-CELLS

The issue of T-cell repertoire selection has been addressed recently by several laboratories. While evidence has been provided for both negative and positive selection of CD4+ and CD8+ αβ T cells, the molecular basis of positive selection remains unclear. In this article Juan Lafaille and colleagues describe molecular features of γδ T-cell selection in the fetal thymus. These features were deduced from extensive junctional sequence data of γδ T-cell receptor genes in fetal thymocytes. Their data suggest the active participation of a self-peptide in the positive selection of γδ T cells. © 1990.