title: Cutting edge: Thymic NK cells develop independently from T cell precursors.
abstract: Although NK cells in the mouse are thought to develop in the bone marrow, a small population of NK cells in the thymus has been shown to derive from a GATA3-dependent pathway. Characteristically, thymic NK cells express CD127 and few Ly49 molecules and lack CD11b. Because these NK cells develop in the thymus, the question of their relationship to the T cell lineage has been raised. Using several different mouse models, we find that unlike T cells, thymic NK cells are not the progeny of Rorc-expressing progenitors and do not express Rag2 or rearrange the TCRγ locus. We further demonstrate that thymic NK cells develop independently of the Notch signaling pathway, supporting the idea that thymic NK cells represent bona fide NK cells that can develop independently of all T cell precursors.
authors.affiliation: Unité d'Immunité Innée, Institut Pasteur, INSERM U668, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Vera S G
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boucontet
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lesjean-Pottier
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Satoh-Takayama
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Di Santo
authors.forename: Christian A J
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Vosshenrich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000276:immunology*; D002469:Cell Separation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054504:Precursor Cells, T-Lymphoid / Q000166:cytology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*