Cutting edge: Contact with secondary lymphoid organs drives postthymic T cell maturation.
T cell development, originally thought to be completed in the thymus, has recently been shown to continue for several weeks in the lymphoid periphery. The forces that drive this peripheral maturation are unclear. The use of mice transgenic for GFP driven by the RAG2 promoter has enabled the ready identification and analysis of recent thymic emigrants. Here, we show that recent thymic emigrant maturation is a progressive process and is promoted by T cell exit from the thymus. Further, we show that this maturation occurs within secondary lymphoid organs and does not require extensive lymphocyte recirculation.
Houston
Evan G
EG
Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Nechanitzky
Robert
R
Fink
Pamela J
PJ
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C499308:Rag2 protein, mouse; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins