Regulation of peripheral T-cell homeostasis by receptor signalling.

The peripheral T-cell pool is maintained at a constant size throughout life. This is achieved through tight homeostatic regulation of the different T-cell subsets. T cells appear to be able to sense whether the T-cell compartment is full and, if it is not, they are able to respond by undergoing cell division. Recent advances have identified that both signalling through the T-cell receptor and a variety of cytokines are essential for the regulation of these responses.