Proapoptotic protein Bim is differentially required during thymic clonal deletion to ubiquitous versus tissue-restricted antigens.

ABSTRACT: Positive and negative selection of thymocytes in the thymus are critical for the development of a mature and self-tolerant T-cell repertoire. The proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bim is important for negative selection by inducing apoptosis in thymocytes receiving a strong signal through their antigen receptor. However, in the case of ubiquitous self-antigens (UbA), Bim is not required for the clonal deletion of self-reactive thymocytes, suggesting the existence of nonapoptotic clonal deletion mechanisms. Unlike UbA, clonal deletion to tissue-restricted antigens (TRAs) requires positive selection and CCR7-mediated migration to the medulla. This led us to hypothesize that Bim is required for the latter. To study the role of Bim in clonal deletion to TRA, we constructed bone marrow (BM) chim

SUBMITTER: Suen AY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3271910 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature