Definition of "self-tolerance" []

• Tolerance by the body's immune system to its own cells and tissues. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "T-cells are designed with an in-built safety mechanism, called self-tolerance, which normally stops them from accidentally reacting with healthy tissues."
• "Key contributions to cellular immunology included the discovery that T cells derived from the thymus 'helped' B cells to produce antibody, proof of the clonal selection theory, delineation of the earliest stages of T cell development in the thymus, and the nature of self-tolerance."
• "It was weaker than self-tolerance, but definitely present."