Many roads, one destination for T cell progenitors.
The thymus manufactures new T cells throughout life but contains no self-renewing potential. Instead, replenishment depends on recruitment of bone marrow-derived progenitors that circulate in the blood. Attempts to identify thymic-homing progenitors, and to assess the degree to which they are precommitted to the T cell lineage, have led to complex and sometimes conflicting results. As described here, this probably reflects the existence of multiple distinct types of T cell lineage progenitors as well as differences in individual experimental approaches.
Petrie
Howard T
HT
Scripps-Florida Research Institute, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA. hpetrie@scripps.edu
Kincade
Paul W
PW
D000818:Animals; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology