| First Author | Kasai M | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 183 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | 7278-85 |
| PubMed ID | 19915056 | Mgi Jnum | J:157389 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4430764 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.0804087 |
| Citation | Kasai M, et al. (2009) Autophagic compartments gain access to the MHC class II compartments in thymic epithelium. J Immunol 183(11):7278-85 |
| abstractText | The presentation of self-peptides in the context of MHC molecules by thymic epithelial cells (TECs) is essential for T cell repertoire selection in the thymus. However, the underlying mechanisms of this process have not been fully elucidated. To address whether autophagy, a catabolic process involving the degradation of a cell's components through the lysosomal machinery, intersects the MHC class II-restricted Ag presentation pathway in TECs, we investigated the colocalization of LC3, a peculiar autophagy marker molecule, with MHC class II compartments in in vitro-established TEC lines by immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blotting analyses. We found that in both cortical and medullary TEC lines, LC3 was colocalized with the H2-DM-positive lysosomal compartments, in which MHC class II plus class II-associated invariant chain peptides complexes are formed. Furthermore, our analysis of thymic cryosections from 1-day-old mice revealed that LC3 colocalizes with the H2-DM-positive compartments in TECs. These results strongly suggest that the cytoplasmic self-Ags gain access to the H2-DM-positive compartments via the autophagic process in the thymus. |
