title: Cell death in the thymus--it' s all a matter of contacts.
abstract: Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, plays a critical role in shaping the T cell repertoire, deleting unproductive as well as potentially autoreactive T cells. Our understanding of how thymocyte apoptosis is regulated is continually evolving, as new essential modulators of this process are discovered. A conundrum that remains, however, is how signaling through essentially the same receptors and cascades evokes distinct biological responses: death by neglect, positive or negative selection. We hypothesize that the immunological synapse (IS) may be critical to transducing survival signals during thymocyte development, and suggest that factors affecting IS assembly may also influence T cell selection.
authors.affiliation: Program in Molecular and Cellular Immunology, Department of Animal Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, University of Massachusetts, 311 Paige Laboratory, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Minter
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Osborne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D006801:Humans; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D020169:Caspases