Thymic homing of activated CD4⁺ T cells induces degeneration of the thymic epithelium through excessive RANK signaling.

ABSTRACT: Activated T cells have been shown to be able to recirculate into the thymus from the periphery. The present study was aimed to elucidate the functional consequences of thymic homing of activated T cells upon developing thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells (TEC). In the presence of activated T cells, especially CD4⁺ T cells, T cell development was found to be inhibited in thymic organ cultures with markedly reduced cellularity. Thymic transplantation demonstrated that the inhibitory effect was most likely due to a defective microenvironment. As the major component of the thymic stroma, the TEC compartment was severely disturbed after prolonged exposure to the activated T cells. In addition to reduced cell proliferation, TEC differentiation was heavily skewed to the mTEC lineage

SUBMITTER: Yin C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5445095 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature