Title: clonal anergy
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - clonal anergy
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13012
Status: current

Definition
Form of self-tolerance developing as a consequence of negative selection during thymic selection processes. Clones of thymocytes whose antigen receptors [T-cell receptors (TCRs)] bind with high affinity to self-antigens in association with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules are inactivated.

Related Terms
- T-cell receptors (TCRs): https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13714
- major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13434
- self-antigens: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12914
- self-tolerance: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13669
- thymic: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13734
- thymocytes: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13598

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1144 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13012/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13012/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13012/xml

Citation: Citation: 'clonal anergy' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13012
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-18T00:19:49+00:00