title: The making of a lymphocyte: the choice among disparate cell fates and the IKAROS enigma.
abstract: Lymphocyte differentiation is set to produce myriad immune effector cells with the ability to respond to multitudinous foreign substances. The uniqueness of this developmental system lies in not only the great diversity of cellular functions that it can generate but also the ability of its differentiation intermediates and mature effector cells to expand upon demand, thereby providing lifelong immunity. Surprisingly, the goals of this developmental system are met by a relatively small group of DNA-binding transcription factors that work in concert to control the timing and magnitude of gene expression and fulfill the demands for cellular specialization, expansion, and maintenance. The cellular and molecular mechanisms through which these lineage-promoting transcription factors operate have been a focus of basic research in immunology. The mechanisms of development discerned in this effort are guiding clinical research on disorders with an immune cell base. Here, I focus on IKAROS, one of the earliest regulators of lymphoid lineage identity and a guardian of lymphocyte homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Georgopoulos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D051740:Ikaros Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors; D051740:Ikaros Transcription Factor
keywords: BALL; IKAROS; chromatin regulation; lineage priming; superenhancers