Intrathymic expression of Flt3 ligand enhances thymic recovery after irradiation.

ABSTRACT: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) requires conditioning treatments such as irradiation, which leads to a severely delayed recovery of T cell immunity and constitutes a major complication of this therapy. Currently, our understanding of the mechanisms regulating thymic recovery is limited. It is known that a subpopulation of bone marrow (BM)-derived thymic immigrant cells and the earliest intrathymic progenitors express the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (Flt3) receptor; however, the functional significance of this expression in the thymus is not known. We used the BM transplant model to investigate the importance of Flt3 ligand (FL) for the regeneration of the T cell compartment. We show that FL is expressed in the adult mouse thymus on the surface of perivascular fibroblasts. The

SUBMITTER: Kenins L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2275376 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature