Antigenic determinants on thyroglobulin recognized by T cells in patients with chronic thyroiditis.

It was found that the proliferating cells to thyroglobulin (Tg) in patients with chronic thyroiditis are confined to a T cell subpopulation. Then, we attempted to characterize the antigenic determinants of Tg recognized by T cells from patients with chronic thyroiditis by Tg-induced DNA-synthetic response. T cells from patients could respond to Tgs from whales, pigs and chickens as well as to human Tg. These findings indicated that epitopes on Tg recognized by T cells were shared by Tgs from various species. In addition, the T cells from different individuals varied in specificity.