T cell lineage determination precedes the initiation of TCRβ gene rearrangement

Kyoko Masuda, Kiyokazu Kakugawa, Toshinori Nakayama, Nagahiro Minato, Yoshimoto Katsura, Hiroshi Kawamoto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Loss of dendritic cell potential is one of the major events in intrathymic T cell development, during which the progenitors become determined to the T cell lineage. However, it remains unclear whether this event occurs in synchrony with another important event, TCRβ chain gene rearrangement, which has been considered the definitive sign of irreversible T cell lineage commitment. To address this issue, we used transgenic mice in which GFP expression is controlled by the lck proximal promoter. We found that the double-negative (DN) 2 stage can be subdivided into GFP- and GFP+ populations, representing functionally different developmental stages in that the GFP -DN2, but not GFP+DN2, cells retain dendritic cell potential. The GFP+DN2 cells were found to undergo several rounds of proliferation before the initiation of TCRβ rearrangement as evidenced by the diversity of D-Jβ rearrangements seen in T cells derived from a single GFP+DN2 progenitor. These results indicated that the determination step of progenitors to the T cell lineage is a separable event from TCRβ rearrangement.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3699-3706
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Immunology
Volume179
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15-09-2007

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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