| First Author | Marino JH | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Glycobiology | Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 719-26 |
| PubMed ID | 18535087 | Mgi Jnum | J:222379 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5644420 | Doi | 10.1093/glycob/cwn051 |
| Citation | Marino JH, et al. (2008) Disruption of thymopoiesis in ST6Gal I-deficient mice. Glycobiology 18(9):719-26 |
| abstractText | Thymocyte development is accompanied by sequential changes in cell surface glycosylation. For example, medullary thymocytes have increased levels of alpha2,3-linked sialic acid and a loss of asialo core 1 O-glycans as compared to cortical thymocytes. Some of these changes have been linked to fine tuning of the T cell receptor avidity. We analyzed ST6Gal I transcript abundance and levels of alpha2,6-linked sialic acid across thymocyte subsets. We found that ST6Gal I transcript levels increased following T cell receptor beta-selection suggesting that this sialyltransferase may influence the development of early thymocyte populations. Indeed, low levels of alpha2,6-linked sialic acid were found in the earliest T lineage cells, and then increased in T cell receptor beta-selected cells. To determine whether ST6Gal I influences T cell development, we analyzed ST6Gal I-deficient mice for disruptions in thymocyte populations. We found reduced thymic cellularity in the ST6Gal I-deficient mice starting in the early thymocyte compartments. |
