CD4 and CD8 T-Cell Lineage

CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are critical to mediating the humoral and cell-mediated arms of the adaptive immune system, respectively. After committing to the T cell lineage in the thymus, cells undergo T cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement and mature via CD4+CD8+ double-positive intermediate progenitors. Double positive thymocytes undergo a selection process that depends on the interaction of their αβ TCR with MHC I and MHC II molecules to identify cells with high affinity to foreign antigens. Cells that pass this selection process can further differentiate into T cell subtypes and migrate to the periphery. Cells that do not interact with MHC molecules or have high-affinity for self-MHC will undergo apoptosis.

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