Selection of the cutaneous intraepithelial gammadelta+ T cell repertoire by a thymic stromal determinant
- PMID: 16829962
- DOI: 10.1038/ni1363
Selection of the cutaneous intraepithelial gammadelta+ T cell repertoire by a thymic stromal determinant
Abstract
Intraepithelial lymphocytes constitute a group of T cells that express mainly monospecific or oligoclonal T cell receptors (TCRs). Like adaptive TCR alphabeta+ T cells, intraepithelial lymphocytes, a subset enriched in TCR gammadelta+ T cells, are proposed to be positively selected by thymically expressed self agonists, yet no direct evidence for this exists at present. Mouse dendritic epidermal T cells are prototypic intraepithelial lymphocytes, displaying an almost monoclonal TCR gammadelta+ repertoire. Here we describe an FVB substrain of mice in which this repertoire was uniquely depleted, resulting in cutaneous pathology. This phenotype was due to failure of dendritic epidermal T cell progenitors to mature because of a heritable defect in a dominant gene used by the thymic stroma to 'educate' the natural, skin-associated intraepithelial lymphocyte repertoire to be of physiological use.
Comment in
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Selection of intraepithelial gammadelta cells: the Holy GrIEL at last?Nat Immunol. 2006 Aug;7(8):791-2. doi: 10.1038/ni0806-791. Nat Immunol. 2006. PMID: 16855600 No abstract available.
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