Thymocyte selection: chemokine signaling is not only about the destination.
The development and function of lymphocytes depend upon their precise migration in response to chemoattractant cytokines, or chemokines. Two recent reports suggest that, during thymic beta-selection, the binding of the chemokine CXCL12 to the receptor CXCR4 on thymocytes provides not only directional but also developmental cues.
Gleimer
Michael
M
Laboratory of Lymphocyte Biology, Cancer Immunology & AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Smith 736, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
von Boehmer
Harald
H
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12 / Q000378:metabolism; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018448:Models, Immunological; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*
D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; D018925:Chemokines; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4