Eliciting the T cell fate with Notch.
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.
Sultana
Dil Afroz
DA
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Bell
J Jeremiah
JJ
Zlotoff
Daniel A
DA
De Obaldia
Maria Elena
ME
Bhandoola
Avinash
A
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
D051880:Receptors, Notch