| First Author | Shitara S | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 190 |
| Issue | 12 | Pages | 6173-9 |
| PubMed ID | 23686483 | Mgi Jnum | J:204843 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5543548 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.1202573 |
| Citation | Shitara S, et al. (2013) IL-7 produced by thymic epithelial cells plays a major role in the development of thymocytes and TCRgammadelta+ intraepithelial lymphocytes. J Immunol 190(12):6173-9 |
| abstractText | IL-7 is a cytokine essential for T cell development and survival. However, the local function of IL-7 produced by thymic epithelial cells (TECs) is poorly understood. To address this question, we generated IL-7-floxed mice and crossed them with FoxN1 promoter-driven Cre (FoxN1-Cre) mice to establish knockout mice conditionally deficient for the expression of IL-7 by TECs. We found that alphabeta and gammadelta T cells were significantly reduced in the thymus of IL-7(f/f) FoxN1-Cre mice. Proportion of mature single-positive thymocytes was increased. In lymph nodes and the spleen, the numbers of T cells were partially restored in IL-7(f/f) FoxN1-Cre mice. In addition, gammadelta T cells were absent from the fetal thymus and epidermis of IL-7(f/f) FoxN1-Cre mice. Furthermore, TCRgammadelta(+) intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) were significantly decreased in the small intestines of IL-7(f/f) FoxN1-Cre mice. To evaluate the function of IL-7 produced in the intestine, we crossed the IL-7(f/f) mice with villin promoter-driven Cre (Vil-Cre) mice to obtain the mice deficient in IL-7 production from intestinal epithelial cells. We observed that alphabeta and gammadelta IELs of IL-7(f/f) Vil-Cre mice were comparable to control mice. Collectively, our results suggest that TEC-derived IL-7 plays a major role in proliferation, survival, and maturation of thymocytes and is indispensable for gammadelta T cell development. This study also demonstrates that IL-7 produced in the thymus is essential for the development of gammadelta IELs and indicates the thymic origin of gammadelta IELs. |
