| First Author | Odaka C | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | e75101 |
| PubMed ID | 24086449 | Mgi Jnum | J:207745 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5559442 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0075101 |
| Citation | Odaka C, et al. (2013) Keratin 8 is required for the maintenance of architectural structure in thymus epithelium. PLoS One 8(9):e75101 |
| abstractText | Keratins (Ks), the intermediate filament (IF) proteins of epithelia, are coordinately expressed as pairs in a cell-lineage and differentiation manner. Cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs) predominantly express the simple epithelium keratin 8/18 (K8/K18) pair, whereas medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) express the stratified epithelium K5/K14 pair, with TECs exhibiting K5 and K8 at the cortico-medullary junction in mature thymus. In the work reported here, we used wild-type (WT) and K8-knockout (K8-null) mice to address the contribution of K8/K18 IFs in the maintenance of the thymic epithelial structure. K8-null thymus maintained the differential cell segregation at the cortex versus the medulla observed in WT thymus, and the distribution of immature thymocytes at the cortex. The K8/K18 loss did not affect thymocyte development. However, it massively perturbed the TEC morphology both at the cortex and the medulla, along with a prominent depletion of cTECs. Such tissue alterations coincided with an increase in apoptosis and a reduced expression of Albatross (Fas-binding factor-1), also known for its capacity to bind K8/18 IFs. In addition, the K8/K18 loss affected the distribution of K5/K14-positive mTECs, but not their differentiation status. Together, the results indicate that K8/K18 IFs constitute key promoters of the thymic epithelium integrity. |
