An alternate pathway for T cell development supported by the bone marrow microenvironment: recapitulation of thymic maturation.
In the principal pathway of alpha/beta T cell maturation, T cell precursors from the bone marrow migrate to the thymus and proceed through several well-characterized developmental stages into mature CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. This study demonstrates an alternative pathway in which the bone marrow microenvironment also supports the differentiation of T cell precursors into CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The marrow pathway recapitulates developmental stages of thymic maturation including a CD4+CD8+ intermediary cell and positive and negative selection, and is strongly inhibited by the presence of mature T cells. The contribution of the marrow pathway in vivo requires further study in mice with normal and deficient thymic or immune function.
García-Ojeda
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ME
Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Dejbakhsh-Jones
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Weissman
I L
IL
Strober
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S
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*
D015415:Biomarkers; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta