Peptide SIF

Low avidity autoreactive T cells have been detected in several experimental setups and they can best be studied in transgenic systems expressing a model antigen as a neo self-antigen. Such a setup allowed us to directly compare the quality of antigenspecific T cells that can be found in the presence or the absence of the neo self-antigen. Rat insulin promoter (Rip)–mOva mice express a membrane-bound form of Ova in mTec in the thymus, the β cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, the proximal tubular epithelial cells in the kidneys, and, in the case of male mice, in the testis.