| First Author | Sharp LL | Year | 1997 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 609-18 |
| PubMed ID | 9390685 | Mgi Jnum | J:263584 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6188784 | Doi | 10.1016/s1074-7613(00)80382-9 |
| Citation | Sharp LL, et al. (1997) The influence of the MAPK pathway on T cell lineage commitment. Immunity 7(5):609-18 |
| abstractText | During development, progenitor thymocytes differentiate into either CD4 or CD8 T cells, and this fate decision depends on the specificity of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) for MHC class II or class I molecules. Based on the mechanisms of fate specification known for simple metazoan organisms, we sought to determine whether the extracellular signal-related kinases (ERKs) play a role in T cell differentiation and lineage commitment. Using a dominant gain-of-function mutant of the erk2 gene, we show that differentiation into the CD4 lineage is favored. We also show that, conversely, the addition of a pharmacological inhibitor of the ERK pathway favors differentiation into the CD8 lineage. We present a quantitative selection model that incorporates these results as well as those of recent reports on the role of Notch in T cell lineage specification. |
