The fate of developing T cells is specified by the interaction of their antigen receptors with
self-peptide–MHC complexes that are displayed by thymic antigen-presenting cells (APCs) …

T cells undergo positive and negative selection in the thymic cortex and medulla,
respectively. A promiscuous expression of a wide array of self-antigens in the thymus is …

Bromodomains (BRDs) are protein interaction modules that specifically recognize ε-N-lysine
acetylation motifs, a key event in the reading process of epigenetic marks. The 61 BRDs in …

Intrathymic T cell development is a complex process that depends upon continuous
guidance from thymus stromal cell microenvironments. The thymic epithelium within the …

Somatic recombination of TCR genes in immature thymocytes results in some cells with
useful TCR specificities, but also many with useless or potentially self-reactive specificities …

Histone modifications not only play important roles in regulating chromatin structure and
nuclear processes but also can be passed to daughter cells as epigenetic marks …

Promiscuous gene expression (PGE) by thymic epithelial cells (TEC) is essential for
generating a diverse T cell antigen receptor repertoire tolerant to self-antigens, and thus for …

PHD (plant homeodomain) zinc fingers are structurally conserved modules found in proteins
that modify chromatin as well as mediate molecular interactions in gene transcription. The …

More than 15 years ago, mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene were identified
as the cause of autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS1). It is now clear that this …

The autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene is crucial for establishing central immunological
tolerance and preventing autoimmunity. Mutations in AIRE cause a rare autosomal …