Košmrlj, AndrejChakraborty, Arup K.Kardar, MehranShakhnovich, Eugene I.2019-09-272009Košmrlj, Andrej, Arup K. Chakraborty, Mehran Kardar, and Eugene I. Shakhnovich. 2009. “Thymic Selection of T-Cell Receptors as an Extreme Value Problem.” Physical Review Letters 103 (6). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.103.068103.0031-90071079-71141092-0145http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41417320T lymphocytes (T cells) orchestrate adaptive immune responses upon activation. T-cell activation requires sufficiently strong binding of T-cell receptors on their surface to short peptides (p) derived from foreign proteins, which are bound to major histocompatibility gene products (displayed on antigen-presenting cells). A diverse and self-tolerant T-cell repertoire is selected in the thymus. We map thymic selection processes to an extreme value problem and provide an analytic expression for the amino acid compositions of selected T-cell receptors (which enable its recognition functions).en-USJournal Article2019-09-2710.1103/PhysRevLett.103.068103