| First Author | Vobořil M | Year | 2022 |
| Journal | Elife | Volume | 11 |
| PubMed ID | 35099391 | Mgi Jnum | J:319761 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6865157 | Doi | 10.7554/eLife.71578 |
| Citation | Voboril M, et al. (2022) A model of preferential pairing between epithelial and dendritic cells in thymic antigen transfer. Elife 11:e71578 |
| abstractText | Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs), which produce and present self-antigens, are essential for the establishment of central tolerance. Since mTEC numbers are limited, their function is complemented by thymic dendritic cells (DCs), which transfer mTEC-produced self-antigens via cooperative antigen transfer (CAT). While CAT is required for effective T cell selection, many aspects remain enigmatic. Given the recently described heterogeneity of mTECs and DCs, it is unclear whether the antigen acquisition from a particular TEC subset is mediated by preferential pairing with a specific subset of DCs. Using several relevant Cre-based mouse models that control for the expression of fluorescent proteins, we have found that, in regards to CAT, each subset of thymic DCs preferentially targets a distinct mTEC subset(s). Importantly, XCR1(+)-activated DC subset represented the most potent subset in CAT. Interestingly, thymic DCs can also acquire antigens from more than one mTEC, and of these, monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) were determined to be the most efficient. moDCs also represented the most potent DC subset in the acquisition of antigen from other DCs. These findings suggest a preferential pairing model for the distribution of mTEC-derived antigens among distinct populations of thymic DCs. |
