| First Author | Liu Y | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Nat Immunol | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 632-40 |
| PubMed ID | 18438410 | Mgi Jnum | J:136291 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3795834 | Doi | 10.1038/ni.1607 |
| Citation | Liu Y, et al. (2008) A critical function for TGF-beta signaling in the development of natural CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. Nat Immunol 9(6):632-40 |
| abstractText | The molecular mechanisms directing the development of 'natural' CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (T(reg) cells) in the thymus are not thoroughly understood. We show here that conditional deletion of transforming growth factor-beta receptor I (TbetaRI) in T cells blocked the appearance of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ thymocytes at postnatal days 3-5. Paradoxically, however, beginning 1 week after birth, the same TbetaRI-mutant mice showed accelerated expansion of thymic CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ populations. This rapid recovery of Foxp3+ thymocytes was attributable mainly to overproduction of and heightened responsiveness to interleukin 2, as genetic ablation of interleukin 2 in TbetaRI-mutant mice resulted in a complete absence of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells from the thymus and periphery. Thus, transforming growth factor-beta signaling is critical to the thymic development of natural CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T(reg) cells. |
