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Thymic selection of T-cell receptors as an extreme value problem

T lymphocytes (T cells) orchestrate adaptive immune responses upon activation. T cell activation requires sufficiently strong binding of T cell receptors (TCRs) on their surface to short peptides (p) derived from foreign proteins, which are bound to major histocompatibility (MHC) 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 TCRs (which enable its recognition functions).