Wnt-1 and Wnt-4 regulate thymic cellularity

✍ Scribed by Thomas Mulroy; Jill A. McMahon; Steven J. Burakoff; Andrew P. McMahon; Jyoti Sen

• Book ID: 101378886
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 87 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0014-2980
• DOI: 10.1002/1521-4141(200204)32:4<967::aid-immu967>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

Thymic primordium, formed by cells derived from the endoderm, the ectoderm and the neural crest-derived mesenchyme, receive fetal liver derived lymphoid precursors. Reciprocal cell-cell interactions between thymic stromal cells and lymphoid precursors are critical in the expansion and maturation of thymocytes. Transcription factor TCF-1 is critical for the expansion of thymocytes because deletion of TCF-1 results in a significant decrease in the number of thymocytes without affecting the developmental pattern. In this report we show that Wnt-1 and Wnt-4 are expressed in the thymus and the deletion of Wnt-1 or Wnt-4 result in a substantial decrease in the number of thymocytes without affecting the pattern of maturation. Wnt-1 and Wnt-4 both regulate developing thymocytes because a double deficiency results in a significantly greater decrease of immature and mature thymocytes compared to deficiency in either Wnt-1 or Wnt-4.