| First Author | Laouar Y | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | Blood | Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 1985-94 |
| PubMed ID | 14592827 | Mgi Jnum | J:88570 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3034133 | Doi | 10.1182/blood-2003-06-2126 |
| Citation | Laouar Y, et al. (2004) Overexpression of IL-7R alpha provides a competitive advantage during early T-cell development. Blood 103(6):1985-94 |
| abstractText | Critical checkpoints controlling early thymic T-cell development and homeostasis are set by the proper signaling function of the interleukin 7 receptor (IL-7R) and the pre-T-cell antigen receptor. Although alpha beta T-cell development is observed in IL-7- and IL-7R alpha-deficient mice, the number of thymocytes is significantly reduced, implying a role for the IL-7R in controlling the size of the thymic T-cell compartment. Here, we report the overexpression of IL-7R alpha that occurs in the early T-cell compartment from AKR/J mice, animals that are highly susceptible to the spontaneous development of thymoma. Increased IL-7R alpha was revealed by surface staining, and increased IL-7R alpha mRNA was documented by using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This resulted in increased survival of AKR/J early thymocytes, shown by the decreased frequency of TUNEL(+) (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate [dUTP]-fluorescein nick end labeling) cells. In an in vivo thymocyte repopulation model, AKR/J thymocytes had a selective advantage over healthy thymocytes. This advantage occurred at early stages of T-cell development. Our findings support the model that overexpression of growth factor receptors can contribute to proliferation and malignancy. |
