title: Regulation of T cell homeostasis during fetal and early postnatal life.
abstract: Before parturition the fetal lamb develops a large pool of long-lived recirculating T cells which provides a large population of naive T cells with a diverse TcR repertoire. After birth and concomitant with exposure to environment antigens, fetal T cells are rapidly replaced by short-lived cells formed postnatally. The majority of thymic emigrants homing to spleen in postnatal lambs are short-lived, in contrast to emigrants targeting lymph nodes where a population appears to be long-lived. The lifespan of thymic emigrants in the fetus is unknown as in the relative importance of antigen-driven processes versus developmental programming in regulating T cell homeostasis in early postnatal life.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Foetal and Neonatal Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Cahill
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Washington
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Holder
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Twohig
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Kimpton
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000276:immunology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology