| First Author | Roberts NA | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 427-37 |
| PubMed ID | 22425250 | Mgi Jnum | J:187054 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5435162 | Doi | 10.1016/j.immuni.2012.01.016 |
| Citation | Roberts NA, et al. (2012) Rank signaling links the development of invariant gammadelta T cell progenitors and Aire(+) medullary epithelium. Immunity 36(3):427-37 |
| abstractText | The thymic medulla provides a specialized microenvironment for the negative selection of T cells, with the presence of autoimmune regulator (Aire)-expressing medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) during the embryonic-neonatal period being both necessary and sufficient to establish long-lasting tolerance. Here we showed that emergence of the first cohorts of Aire(+) mTECs at this key developmental stage, prior to alphabeta T cell repertoire selection, was jointly directed by Rankl(+) lymphoid tissue inducer cells and invariant Vgamma5(+) dendritic epidermal T cell (DETC) progenitors that are the first thymocytes to express the products of gene rearrangement. In turn, generation of Aire(+) mTECs then fostered Skint-1-dependent, but Aire-independent, DETC progenitor maturation and the emergence of an invariant DETC repertoire. Hence, our data attributed a functional importance to the temporal development of Vgamma5(+) gammadelta T cells during thymus medulla formation for alphabeta T cell tolerance induction and demonstrated a Rank-mediated reciprocal link between DETC and Aire(+) mTEC maturation. |
