| First Author | Ferrero I | Year | 1999 |
| Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1598-609 |
| PubMed ID | 10359114 | Mgi Jnum | J:115249 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3691180 | Doi | 10.1002/(SICI)1521-4141(199905)29:05<1598::AID-IMMU1598>3.0.CO;2-O |
| Citation | Ferrero I, et al. (1999) Functional and phenotypic analysis of thymic B cells: role in the induction of T cell negative selection. Eur J Immunol 29(5):1598-609 |
| abstractText | The phenotype of mouse thymic B cells and their capacity to induce T cell negative selection in vitro were analyzed. Thymic B cells expressed B cell markers such as IgM, Fc gamma receptor, CD44, heat-stable antigen, LFA-1 and CD40. In addition, they were positive for the activation molecule CD69 and displayed high levels of B7-2. Although thymic B cells expressed CD5 on their surface, no CD5-specific mRNA was detected. Moreover, thymic B cells induced a stronger deletion of TCR-transgenic (TG) thymocytes than splenic B cells, which had low CD69 and B7-2 levels. Interestingly, CD40-activated splenic B cells up-regulated CD69 and B7-2 and acquired a capacity to induce T cell deletion comparable to that of thymic B cells. Moreover, thymic B cells from CD40-deficient mice displayed lower CD69 and B7-2 levels than control thymic B cells, and lower capacity to induce the deletion of TCR TG thymocytes. These results support the hypothesis that CD40-mediated activation of thymic B cells determines a high efficiency of antigen presentation, suggesting that within the thymus B cells may play an important role in the elimination of autoreactive thymocytes. |
