title: Identification of an NK/T cell-restricted progenitor in adult bone marrow contributing to bone marrow- and thymic-dependent NK cells.
abstract: Although bone marrow (BM) is the main site of natural killer (NK)-cell development in adult mice, recent studies have identified a distinct thymic-dependent NK pathway, implicating a possible close link between NK- and T-cell development in adult hematopoiesis. To investigate whether a potential NK-/T-lineage restriction of multipotent progenitors might take place already in the BM, we tested the full lineage potentials of NK-cell progenitors in adult BM. Notably, although Lin(-)CD122(+)NK1.1(-)DX5(-) NK-cell progenitors failed to commit to the B and myeloid lineages, they sustained a combined NK- and T-cell potential in vivo and in vitro at the single-cell level. Whereas T-cell development from NK/T progenitors is Notch-dependent, their contribution to thymic and BM NK cells remains Notch-independent. These findings demonstrate the existence of bipotent NK-/T-cell progenitors in adult BM.
authors.affiliation: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Laboratory, Lund Research Center for Stem Cell Biology and Cell Therapy, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hojjatollah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nozad Charoudeh
authors.forename: Yanjuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Corrado M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cilio
authors.forename: Sten Eirik W
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sitnicka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002469:Cell Separation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000276:immunology; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology