| First Author | Dzhagalov I | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 181 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 521-8 |
| PubMed ID | 18566418 | Mgi Jnum | J:137400 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3799430 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.181.1.521 |
| Citation | Dzhagalov I, et al. (2008) The anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1 promotes T lymphocyte survival at multiple stages. J Immunol 181(1):521-8 |
| abstractText | T lymphocyte development and function are tightly regulated by the intrinsic death pathway through members of the Bcl-2 family. Genetic studies have demonstrated that the Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1 is an important anti-apoptotic protein in the development of multiple cell types including T lymphocytes. However, the expression pattern and anti-apoptotic roles of Mcl-1 in T lymphocytes at different developmental stages remain to be fully determined. In this study, we examined the expression pattern of Mcl-1 in different populations of T cells at the single-cell level and found that Mcl-1 protein is constitutively expressed in all T cell populations and up-regulated upon TCR stimulation. We then investigated the role of Mcl-1 in the survival of these different populations by conditionally deleting Mcl-1 at various T cell stages. Our results show that Mcl-1 is required for the survival of double-negative and single-positive thymocytes as well as naive and activated T cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Mcl-1 functions together with Bcl-xL to promote double-positive thymocyte survival. Thus, Mcl-1 is a critical anti-apoptotic factor for the survival of T cells at multiple stages in vivo. |
