| First Author | Egawa T | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Nat Immunol | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 1131-9 |
| PubMed ID | 18776905 | Mgi Jnum | J:141144 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3817342 | Doi | 10.1038/ni.1652 |
| Citation | Egawa T, et al. (2008) ThPOK acts late in specification of the helper T cell lineage and suppresses Runx-mediated commitment to the cytotoxic T cell lineage. Nat Immunol 9(10):1131-9 |
| abstractText | The transcription factor ThPOK is required and sufficient for the generation of CD4(+)CD8(-) thymocytes, yet the mechanism by which ThPOK orchestrates differentiation into the CD4(+) helper T cell lineage remains unclear. Here we used reporter mice to track the expression of transcription factors in developing thymocytes. Distal promoter-driven expression of the gene encoding the transcription factor Runx3 was restricted to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-selected thymocytes. In ThPOK-deficient mice, such expression was derepressed in MHC class II-selected thymocytes, which contributed to their redirection to the CD8(+) T cell lineage. In the absence of both ThPOK and Runx, redirection was prevented and cells potentially belonging to the CD4(+) lineage, presumably specified independently of ThPOK, were generated. Our results suggest that MHC class II-selected thymocytes are directed toward the CD4(+) lineage independently of ThPOK but require ThPOK to prevent Runx-dependent differentiation toward the CD8(+) lineage. |
