Molecular basis of T-cell differentiation.
In summary, a multitude of regulatory systems are employed to cause the selective activation of target cytokine genes in Th1 and Th2 effector cells. These mechanisms involve both positive and negative regulation and employ at least three kinds of mechanisms. In the first, selective expression of transcription factors such as GATA3 in Th2 cells and the homeobox gene HLX in Th1 cells occurs, and appears in both cases to play a causal role. Another example of this would be c-maf, discovered by the Glimcher laboratory. A second mechanism is by the selective accumulation of protein through posttranscriptional mechanisms. Thus, junB accumulates in Th2 cells despite the fact that the junB mRNA levels are not different between Th1 and Th2 cells. Finally, the selective use of signaling pathways, in the case studied here MAP kinase pathways, leads to the selective activation of target genes. We believe that transcriptional up-regulation of rac2 leads to the coupling of both the p38 and JNK MAP kinase pathways to the T-cell receptor and/or costimulatory receptors, thereby providing a lineage-specific signal.
Section of Immunobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
R A
RA
Flavell
B
B
Li
C
C
Dong
H T
HT
Lu
D D
DD
Yang
H
H
Enslen
C
C
Tournier
A
A
Whitmarsh
M
M
Wysk
D
D
Conze
M
M
Rincon
R J
RJ
Davis
D002454:Cell Differentiation; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
D014157:Transcription Factors; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases