title: Eliciting the T cell fate with Notch.
abstract: Multipotent progenitors arrive at the thymus via the blood. Constraining the non-T cell fates of these progenitors while promoting the T cell fate is a major task of the thymus. Notch appears to be the initial trigger for a developmental program that eventually results in T cell lineage commitment. Several downstream targets of Notch are known, but the specific roles of each are poorly understood. A greater understanding of how Notch and other thymic signals direct progenitors to a T cell fate could be useful for translational work. For example, such work could eventually allow for the generation of fully competent T cells in vitro that could supplement the waning T cell numbers and function in the elderly and boost T cell-mediated immunity in patients with immunodeficiency and after stem cell transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Dil Afroz
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sultana
authors.forename: J Jeremiah
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Zlotoff
authors.forename: Maria Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: De Obaldia
authors.forename: Avinash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhandoola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006801:Humans; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051880:Receptors, Notch