title: Molecular characterization of the mouse involuted thymus: aberrations in expression of transcription regulators in thymocyte and epithelial compartments.
abstract: Despite playing a critical role in the development of naive T cells, the thymus is involuted with age. Whether a single age-associated defect or multiple aberrations contribute to thymic involution remains controversial. Here, we determined molecular aberrations in the thymocyte and epithelium compartments of the aging thymus. We demonstrated that total thymocyte numbers declined with a stepwise kinetics; clear demarcations occurred at 1.5, 3, 12 and 22 months of age. By quantitative PCR, a 2.4-fold reduction in the copies of signal joint TCR-excised circle (sjTREC)/10(5) thymocytes was first detected at 3 months; no further reduction observed thereafter. Nevertheless, the combined reductions in thymocyte numbers and sjTREC/10(5) cells caused a 7-fold decrease in sjTREC/thymus by 3 months, 21-fold by 18 months and 72-fold by 22 months as compared to 1 month. We showed aberration in expression of E2A, a transcription regulator critical for TCR beta rearrangement. While E2A expression declined 3-fold by 3 months and 18-fold by 7 months, expression of LMO2, a negative regulator of E2A activities, increased 5-fold by 18 months. Interestingly, expression of pre-T alpha and its transcriptional regulator HEB were not reduced with age. Furthermore, keratin-8 expression, specific for cortical thymic epithelium, declined 3-fold by 7 months and remained stable thereafter. In contrast, Foxn1 expression was reduced 3-fold by 3 months, 16-fold by 12 months and 37-fold by 18 months. IL-7 expression was not reduced until 7 months and reached 15-fold reduction by 22 months. Thus, the data demonstrate that thymic involution results not from a single defect, but culminates from an array of molecular aberrations in both the developing thymocytes and thymic epithelials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, and the Program in Immunology and Aging, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
authors.forename: Crystal L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ortman
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dittmar
authors.forename: Pamela L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.forename: Phong T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Le
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D015851:Interleukin-7 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053533:Keratin-8; D007633:Keratins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008667:Metalloproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D015851:Interleukin-7; D053533:Keratin-8; D007633:Keratins; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008667:Metalloproteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D014157:Transcription Factors; C486595:Krt8 protein, mouse; C513188:Lmo2 protein, mouse; C489532:Tcf12 protein, mouse; C090140:Whn protein; C090377:pre-T cell receptor alpha; C073366:TCF12 protein, human