| First Author | Puddington L | Year | 1994 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 733-9 |
| PubMed ID | 7534619 | Mgi Jnum | J:189422 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5445499 | Doi | 10.1016/s1074-7613(94)80015-4 |
| Citation | Puddington L, et al. (1994) Interactions between stem cell factor and c-Kit are required for intestinal immune system homeostasis. Immunity 1(9):733-9 |
| abstractText | Interactions between stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor, c-Kit, are important for development of hematopoietic, melanocytes, and germ cells. T lymphocytes appeared normal in c-Kit (W/Wv) or SCF (SI/SId) mutant mice, except for those residing within the intestinal epithelium, the intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). Normally, IEL are composed of equal numbers of cells with alpha beta or gamma delta T cell receptors. In mutant mice, beginning at 6-8 weeks of age, the number of gamma delta IEL decreased, whereas alpha beta IEL increased. The latter was due largely to an increased CD4+ CD8+ TCR alpha beta subset, suggesting that these cells may be intermediates in the alpha beta IEL lineage. c-Kit or SCF was expressed by IEL or intestinal epithelial cells, respectively, indicating a potential for direct intercellular interaction. This possibility was supported by reconstitution studies that demonstrated that c-Kit mutations directly affected IEL. Thus, SCF-c-Kit interactions are important for homeostasis of the intestinal immune compartment. |
