title: Transcriptional drivers of the T-cell lineage program.
abstract: The T-cell development program is specifically triggered by Notch-Delta signaling, but most transcription factors needed to establish T-cell lineage identity also have crossover roles in other hematopoietic lineages. This factor sharing complicates full definition of the core gene regulatory circuits required for T-cell specification. But new advances illuminate the roles of three of the most T-cell specific transcription factors. Commitment to the T-cell lineage is now shown to depend on Bcl11b, while initiation of the T-cell differentiation program begins earlier with the induction of TCF-1 (Tcf7 gene product) and GATA-3. Several reports now reveal how TCF-1 and GATA-3 are mobilized in early T cells and the pathways for their T-lineage specific effects.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology 156-29, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. evroth@its.caltech.edu
authors.forename: Ellen V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Rothenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors