First Author | Porcellini S | Year | 1999 |
Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 29 |
Issue | 8 | Pages | 2476-83 |
PubMed ID | 10458761 | Mgi Jnum | J:56791 |
Mgi Id | MGI:1342422 | Doi | 10.1002/(SICI)1521-4141(199908)29:08<2476::AID-IMMU2476>3.0.CO;2-1 |
Citation | Porcellini S, et al. (1999) Molecular and cellular aspects of induced thymus development in recombinase-deficient mice. Eur J Immunol 29(8):2476-83 |
abstractText | Thymus development and microenvironment organization require stage- and site-specific cross-talk between thymocyte and stroma. In this study we have used recombinase-activating gene-deficient (RAG-2(-/-)) mice to analyze regulated gene expression both in thymocytes and stromal cells following injection of anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies as inducer of thymus development. We show that IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and lymphotactin are transcriptionally regulated in thymocytes, whereas cytoskeletal keratin 14, IL-1alpha and TNF-alpha are regulated in the stroma, quantitatively reproducing the variations associated with beta selection of thymocytes. In addition, RAG-2(-/-) thymus development is associated with entry of epithelial cells into the cell cycle. The histochemical evidence that expanded RAG-2(-/-) thymus becomes undistinguishable from wild-type cortex further suggests that cross-talk phenomena occurring during beta selection of thymocyte are reproduced in this system. |