Journal
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 9, Issue 10, Pages 1131-1139Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1652
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Funding
- Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
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The transcription factor ThPOK is required and sufficient for the generation of CD4(+) CD8(-) thymocytes, yet the mechanism by which ThPOK orchestrates differentiation into the CD4(+) helper T cell lineage remains unclear. Here we used reporter mice to track the expression of transcription factors in developing thymocytes. Distal promoter-driven expression of the gene encoding the transcription factor Runx3 was restricted to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-selected thymocytes. In ThPOK-deficient mice, such expression was derepressed in MHC class II-selected thymocytes, which contributed to their redirection to the CD8(+) T cell lineage. In the absence of both ThPOK and Runx, redirection was prevented and cells potentially belonging to the CD4(+) lineage, presumably specified independently of ThPOK, were generated. Our results suggest that MHC class II-selected thymocytes are directed toward the CD4(+) lineage independently of ThPOK but require ThPOK to prevent Runx-dependent differentiation toward the CD8(+) lineage.
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