| First Author | Crompton T | Year | 1997 |
| Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 100-4 |
| PubMed ID | 9022004 | Mgi Jnum | J:38447 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:85813 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.1830270115 |
| Citation | Crompton T, et al. (1997) A transgenic T cell receptor restores thymocyte differentiation in interleukin-7 receptor alpha chain-deficient mice. Eur J Immunol 27(1):100-4 |
| abstractText | Interleukin-7 (IL-7) receptor alpha chain-deficient (IL-7R alpha-/-) mice have severely depleted lymphocyte populations and thymocyte development is arrested at the double-negative (DN) stage. We show that thymocyte development in these mice can be reconstituted by the introduction of a transgenic T cell receptor (TCR), implying that one function of the IL-7R alpha chain is to initiate TCR gene rearrangement. Expression of the recombinase-activating genes RAG1 and RAG2 was greatly reduced in the IL-7R alpha-/- thymuses, and in DN thymocytes from the TCR transgenic IL-7R alpha-/- mice, but was restored in double-positive thymocytes from the TCR transgenic IL-7R alpha-/- mice. These data suggest that the IL-7R alpha chain controls RAG expression and initiation of TCR beta chain VDJ rearrangement in DN cells. In contrast, once cells have progressed beyond the DN stage of development the IL-7R alpha chain becomes no longer essential for RAG expression. |
