title: Direct and indirect roles of the LTbetaR pathway in central tolerance induction.
abstract: Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) play a critical role in thymic negative selection of autoreactive thymocytes, especially for thymocytes specific for peripheral tissue-restricted self-antigens (TRA). Deficiency in lymphotoxin b receptor (LTbetaR) is associated with peripheral tissue inflammation, but whether this is caused by defective negative selection has been unclear; the significance of the LTbetaR pathway for negative selection is evident in some models but not others. Here, we revisit the data and clarify the role of LTbetaR in mTEC development and function and thymic TRA expression. These processes are discussed as potential mechanisms for LTbetaR-mediated control of negative selection.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. zhumz@ibp.ac.cn
authors.forename: Mingzhao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Nicholas K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Yang-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D053259:Lymphotoxin beta Receptor / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053259:Lymphotoxin beta Receptor