title: Regulation of pre-T-cell development.
abstract: One important pillar of cellular immune defense in mammals is the T-lymphoid compartment which produces cells that are able to specifically recognize foreign peptide antigens through a membrane-bound receptor. These T-cells can trigger a variety of defense mechanisms upon antigen stimulation ranging from the production of potent cytokines to the direct killing of virus-infected cells. The production of such highly specialized T-cells takes place in the thymus and requires a stringent process of differentiation and selection of precursor cells that are delivered from the bone marrow. In the thymus, several waves of proliferative expansion and selection ensure the production of a large repertoire of antigen-specific T-cells that each bear a unique T-cell receptor (TCR) which is able to recognize foreign antigens but can tolerate the own host-specific peptide structures. Education of precursors to mature T-cells in the thymus requires a dense network of regulatory processes acting at receptor-ligand interactions, signal transduction, genomic rearrangement of TCR gene loci, cell cycle progression, transcriptional control and programmed cell death.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Zellbiologie (Tumorfoschung) IFZ, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Germany. moeroey@uni-essen.de
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Möröy
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karsunky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D016207:Cytokines; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D014157:Transcription Factors