Commitment and developmental potential of extrathymic and intrathymic T cell precursors: plenty to choose from.
T cells developing in the thymus are derived from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the bone marrow (BM). Understanding the developmental steps linking multipotent HSCs to intrathymic T lineage-committed progenitors is important for understanding cancer in T lineage cells, improving T cell reconstitution after BM transplantation, and designing gene-therapy approaches to treat defective T cell development or function. Such an understanding may also help ameliorate immunological defects in aging. This review covers the differentiation steps between HSCs and committed T cell progenitors within the thymus.
Bhandoola
Avinash
A
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. bhandooa@mail.med.upenn.edu
von Boehmer
Harald
H
Petrie
Howard T
HT
Zúñiga-Pflücker
Juan Carlos
JC
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*