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Module 2.3 · Topic 2
Module 2.3 · Topic 2
Why most developing T cells never make it out alive
Roughly 95% of the T cells your thymus starts building never leave it — they're deliberately killed before maturity. That's not a design flaw or inefficiency. It's the actual quality-control step that keeps your adaptive immune system from attacking you.
A developing T cell's receptor happens to bind the body's own MHC molecules extremely strongly. What's the safest thing for the immune system to do with that cell?
Primary lymphoid organs are distinguished from secondary lymphoid organs by:
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