Current models of T cell activation focus on the kinetics of TCR-ligand interactions as the central parameter governing T cell responsiveness. However, these kinetic parameters do not adequately predict all T cell behavior, particularly the response to antagonist ligands. Recent studies have demonstrated that TCR number is a critical parameter influencing the responses of CD4(+) T cells to weak agonist ligands, and receptor density represents an important means of regulating tissue responsiveness in other receptor ligand systems. To systematically address the impact of TCR expression on CD8(+) T cell responses, mAbs to the TCR alpha-chain and T cells expressing two TCR species were used as two different methods to manipulate the number of available TCRs on P14 and OT-I transgenic T cells. Both methods of TCR reduction demonstrated that the efficacy of antagonist peptides was significantly reduced on T cells bearing low numbers of available receptors. In addition, the ability of weak agonists to induce proliferation was critically dependent on the availability of high numbers of TCRs. Therefore, in this report we show that TCR density is a major determinant of CD8(+) T cell reactivity to weak agonist and antagonist ligands but not agonist ligands.