| First Author | Ioannidis V | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | Nat Immunol | Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 8 | Pages | 691-7 |
| PubMed ID | 11477404 | Mgi Jnum | J:107212 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3620418 | Doi | 10.1038/90623 |
| Citation | Ioannidis V, et al. (2001) The beta-catenin--TCF-1 pathway ensures CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocyte survival. Nat Immunol 2(8):691-7 |
| abstractText | The association of trans-acting T cell factors (TCFs) or lymphoid enhancer factor 1 (LEF-1) with their coactivator beta-catenin mediates transient transcriptional responses to extracellular Wnt signals. We show here that T cell maturation depends on the presence of the beta-catenin--binding domain in TCF-1. This domain is necessary to mediate the survival of immature CD4(+)CD8(+) double-positive (DP) thymocytes. Accelerated spontaneous thymocyte death in the absence of TCF-1 correlates with aberrantly low expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-x(L). Increasing anti-apoptotic effectors in thymocytes by the use of a Bcl-2 transgene rescued TCF-1-deficient DP thymocytes from apoptosis. Thus, TCF-1, upon association with beta-catenin, transiently ensures the survival of immature T cells, which enables them to generate and edit T cell receptor (TCR) alpha chains and attempt TCR-mediated positive selection. |
