On a key postulate of T-cell receptor restrictive function: the V-gene loci act as a single pool encoding recognition of the polymorphic alleles of the species major histocompatibility complex.

The proposition that single Valpha or Vbeta gene segments specify the recognition of the allele-specific determinants expressed on the major histocompatibility complex-encoded restricting elements of the species has as its consequence a totally different picture of the functioning of the T-cell receptor. This commentary justifies this assumption and outlines some of its most important consequences.