TCRa sequencing of Yae62 TCRb-transgenic mice with wild-type or mutant Zap70

During T cell development, engagement of the clonally expressed T cell receptor (TCR) with a specific peptide-major histocompatility complex (MHC) molecule results in conventional T cell differentiation or, when TCR signalling exceeds a certain threshold, induction of tolerance. Zap70 is a protein that transmits the TCR activation signal into the T cell. The goal of this study was to determine whether TCRs that induce tolerance in wild-type mice are expressed by conventional T cells in mice with reduced Zap70 function.