Lineage choices in the developing thymus: choosing the T and NKT pathways

✍ Scribed by Warren S Pear; LiLi Tu; Paul L Stein

• Book ID: 104014323
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 154 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0952-7915
• DOI: 10.1016/j.coi.2004.01.011

✦ Synopsis

Thymic development proceeds through several defined stages that generate not only ab and gd T cells but can produce dendritic cells and B cells. The earliest thymocytes exist in the CD4 À CD8 À double negative compartment within a heterogeneous fraction termed DN1. Recent progress has identified several candidate populations that may be the bone fide T-cell progenitor population. The potential roles of these populations, which include hematopoietic stem cells, early lymphocyte precursors, common lymphoid progenitors, and early T lineage progenitors are being elucidated. The ab T-cell lineage consists of distinct subsets, one of which is NKT cells. The developmental relationship of NKT cells to conventional T cells has been controversial. Recent work has shown that these cells are probably derived from CD4 þ CD8 þ thymocytes. The discovery and application of CD1d tetramers has made it possible to more fully describe NKT-cell development.