scholarly journals Separation of Notch1 Promoted Lineage Commitment and Expansion/Transformation in Developing T Cells

2001 ◽  
Vol 194 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Allman ◽  
Fredrick G. Karnell ◽  
Jennifer A. Punt ◽  
Sonia Bakkour ◽  
Lanwei Xu ◽  
...  

Notch1 signaling is required for T cell development. We have previously demonstrated that expression of a dominant active Notch1 (ICN1) transgene in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) leads to thymic-independent development of CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP) T cells in the bone marrow (BM). To understand the function of Notch1 in early stages of T cell development, we assessed the ability of ICN1 to induce extrathymic T lineage commitment in BM progenitors from mice that varied in their capacity to form a functional pre-T cell receptor (TCR). Whereas mice repopulated with ICN1 transduced HSCs from either recombinase deficient (Rag-2−/−) or Src homology 2 domain–containing leukocyte protein of 76 kD (SLP-76)−/− mice failed to develop DP BM cells, recipients of ICN1-transduced Rag-2−/− progenitors contained two novel BM cell populations indicative of pre-DP T cell development. These novel BM populations are characterized by their expression of CD3ε and pre-Tα mRNA and the surface proteins CD44 and CD25. In contrast, complementation of Rag-2−/− mice with a TCRβ transgene restored ICN1-induced DP development in the BM within 3 wk after BM transfer (BMT). At later time points, this population selectively and consistently gave rise to T cell leukemia. These findings demonstrate that Notch signaling directs T lineage commitment from multipotent progenitor cells; however, both expansion and leukemic transformation of this population are dependent on T cell–specific signals associated with development of DP thymocytes.

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-449
Author(s):  
Sowmya Angusamy ◽  
Tamer Mansour ◽  
Mohammed Abdulmageed ◽  
Rachel Han ◽  
Brian C. Schutte ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The adaptive immune system of neonates is relatively underdeveloped. The thymus is an essential organ for adaptive T cell development and might be affected during the natural course of oxygen induced lung injury. The effect of prolonged hyperoxia on the thymus, thymocyte and T cell development, and its proliferation has not been studied extensively. Methods: Neonatal mice were exposed to 85% oxygen (hyperoxia) or room air (normoxia) up to 28 days. Flow cytometry using surface markers were used to assay for thymocyte development and proliferation. Results: Mice exposed to prolonged hyperoxia had evidence of lung injury associated alveolar simplification, a significantly lower mean weight, smaller thymic size, lower mean thymocyte count and higher percentage of apoptotic thymocytes. T cells subpopulation in the thymus showed a significant reduction in the count and proliferation of double positive and double negative T cells. There was a significant reduction in the count and proliferation of single positive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Conclusions: Prolonged hyperoxia in neonatal mice adversely affected thymic size, thymocyte count and altered the distribution of T cells sub-populations. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that prolonged hyperoxia causes defective development of T cells in the thymus.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Izon ◽  
Sofia Rozenfeld ◽  
Stephen T. Fong ◽  
László Kömüves ◽  
Corey Largman ◽  
...  

Abstract Hox homeobox genes play a crucial role in specifying the embryonic body pattern. However, a role for Hox genes in T-cell development has not been explored. The Hoxa-9 gene is expressed in normal adult and fetal thymuses. Fetal thymuses of mice homozygous for an interruption of the Hoxa-9 gene are one eighth normal size and have a 25-fold decrease in the number of primitive thymocytes expressing the interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R, CD25). Progression to the double positive (CD4+CD8+) stage is dramatically retarded in fetal thymic organ cultures. This aberrant development is associated with decreased amounts of intracellular CD3 and T-cell receptor β (TCRβ) and reduced surface expression of IL-7R and E-cadherin. Mutant thymocytes show a significant increase in apoptotic cell death and premature downregulation of bcl-2 expression. A similar phenotype is seen in primitive thymocytes from adult Hoxa-9−/− mice and from mice transplanted with Hoxa-9−/−marrow. Hoxa-9 appears to play a previously unsuspected role in T-cell ontogeny by modulating cell survival of early thymocytes and by regulating their subsequent differentiation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (44) ◽  
pp. E6020-E6027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martijn H. Brugman ◽  
Anna-Sophia Wiekmeijer ◽  
Marja van Eggermond ◽  
Ingrid Wolvers-Tettero ◽  
Anton W. Langerak ◽  
...  

The fate and numbers of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and their progeny that seed the thymus constitute a fundamental question with important clinical implications. HSC transplantation is often complicated by limited T-cell reconstitution, especially when HSC from umbilical cord blood are used. Attempts to improve immune reconstitution have until now been unsuccessful, underscoring the need for better insight into thymic reconstitution. Here we made use of the NOD-SCID-IL-2Rγ−/− xenograft model and lentiviral cellular barcoding of human HSCs to study T-cell development in the thymus at a clonal level. Barcoded HSCs showed robust (>80% human chimerism) and reproducible myeloid and lymphoid engraftment, with T cells arising 12 wk after transplantation. A very limited number of HSC clones (<10) repopulated the xenografted thymus, with further restriction of the number of clones during subsequent development. Nevertheless, T-cell receptor rearrangements were polyclonal and showed a diverse repertoire, demonstrating that a multitude of T-lymphocyte clones can develop from a single HSC clone. Our data imply that intrathymic clonal fitness is important during T-cell development. As a consequence, immune incompetence after HSC transplantation is not related to the transplantation of limited numbers of HSC but to intrathymic events.


2004 ◽  
Vol 200 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Jeffrey Chiang ◽  
Connie L. Sommers ◽  
Martha S. Jordan ◽  
Hua Gu ◽  
Lawrence E. Samelson ◽  
...  

c-Cbl is an adaptor protein that negatively regulates signal transduction events involved in thymic-positive selection. To further characterize the function of c-Cbl in T cell development, we analyzed the effect of c-Cbl inactivation in mice deficient in the scaffolding molecule SLP-76. SLP-76–deficient mice show a high frequency of neonatal lethality; and in surviving mice, T cell development is blocked at the DN3 stage. Inactivation of c-cbl completely reversed the neonatal lethality seen in SLP-76–deficient mice and partially reversed the T cell development arrest in these mice. SLP-76−/− Cbl−/− mice exhibited marked expansion of polarized T helper type (Th)1 and Th2 cell peripheral CD4+ T cells, lymphoid infiltrates of parenchymal organs, and premature death. This rescue of T cell development is T cell receptor dependent because it does not occur in recombination activating gene 2−/− SLP-76−/− Cbl−/− triple knockout mice. Analysis of the signal transduction properties of SLP-76−/− Cbl−/− T cells reveals a novel SLP-76– and linker for activation of T cells–independent pathway of extracellular signal–regulated kinase activation, which is normally down-regulated by c-Cbl.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (11) ◽  
pp. 3266-3266
Author(s):  
Pablo Laje ◽  
William H. Peranteau ◽  
Masayuki Endo ◽  
Philip W. Zoltick ◽  
Alan W. Flake

Abstract The developing fetal immune system provides a unique opportunity to manipulate normal immunologic development for therapeutic prenatal and anticipated postnatal interventions. In previous studies we have shown that allogeneic in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation (IUHCT) results in donor specific tolerance that can subsequently facilitate non-myeloablative postnatal cellular or organ transplants. It follows that in utero injection of transduced hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) could potentially induce tolerance to a transgene encoded protein. We hypothesized that expression of a transduced antigenic protein by HSC and their progeny would alter thymic T cell development resulting in deletion of antigen specific T-cells. To test this hypothesis, we used the mammary tumor virus (MTV) superantigen system to evaluate the effect of IUHCT of transduced HSC on T cell development. In this system, expression of different MTV oncogenes by different I-E+ strains of mice results in deletion of T cells expressing the relevant Vβ T cell receptor. Specifically, mice which are Mtv7+ delete T cells expressing the Vβ6 T-cell receptor. In this study, CD150+CD48− enriched Balb/c (I-E+ Mtv7−) HSC were transduced with an HIV-based lentivirus expressing MTV7 under an MND promoter. 1.5E+05 transduced cells were injected intravascularly via the vitelline vein into E14 Balb/c fetuses. Non-injected age matched naive Balb/c mice served as the control group. The peripheral blood (PB) and thymuses of injected fetuses and control mice were harvested at day of life (DOL) 10, 20 and 60 and analyzed by flow cytometry for T lymphocyte Vβ6 expression. Additionally, the T cell composition of the thymus was assessed at DOL10 for CD4 and CD8 single positive (SP) and CD4/CD8 double positive (DP) cells. Thymic flow cytometric analysis at DOL10 revealed that greater than 98% of the T cells were CD4CD8 DP, a stage that has not yet undergone negative selection. No significant difference was noted in the percentage of thymic Vβ6+ DP T-cells at this time point or at DOL20 and DOL60. In contrast, there was a significant decrease in the percentage of Vβ6+ peripheral blood SP cells in those mice injected with MTV7 transduced HSC relative to control mice at DOL10, DOL20 and DOL60 (p<0.05) (Fig 1). The current study supports the ability of enriched transduced HSC to induce deletion of transgene specific T cells after IUHCT. In the future, this strategy may be useful to promote tolerance for pre or postnatal cellular or gene therapy. Figure Figure


1995 ◽  
Vol 181 (4) ◽  
pp. 1445-1458 ◽  
Author(s):  
B F Haynes ◽  
C S Heinly

To determine events that transpire during the earliest stages of human T cell development, we have studied fetal tissues before (7 wk), during (8.2 wk), and after (9.5 wk to birth) colonization of the fetal thymic rudiment with hematopoietic stem cells. Calculation of the approximate volumes of the 7- and 8.2-wk thymuses revealed a 35-fold increase in thymic volumes during this time, with 7-wk thymus height of 160 microM and volume of 0.008 mm3, and 8.2-wk thymus height of 1044 microM and volume of 0.296 mm3. Human thymocytes in the 8.2-wk thymus were CD4+ CD8 alpha+ and cytoplasmic CD3 epsilon+ cCD3 delta+ CD8 beta- and CD3 zetta-. Only 5% of 8-wk thymocytes were T cell receptor (TCR)-beta+, &lt; 0.1% were TCR-gamma+, and none reacted with monoclonal antibodies against TCR-delta. During the first 16 wk of gestation, we observed developmentally regulated expression of CD2 and CD8 beta (appearing at 9.5 wk), CD1a,b, and c molecules (CD1b, then CD1c, then CD1a), TCR molecules (TCR-beta, then TCR-delta), CD45RA and CD45RO isoforms, CD28 (10 wk), CD3 zeta (12-13 wk), and CD6 (12,75 wk). Whereas CD2 was not expressed at the time of initiation of thymic lymphopoiesis, a second CD58 ligand, CD48, was expressed at 8.2 wk, suggesting a role for CD48 early in thymic development. Taken together, these data define sequential phenotypic and morphologic changes that occur in human thymus coincident with thymus colonization by hematopoietic stem cells and provide insight into the molecules that are involved in the earliest stages of human T cell development.


1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cees de Heer ◽  
Bernard de Geus ◽  
Henk-Jan Schuurma ◽  
Henk Van Loveren ◽  
Jan Rozing

T-cell receptor (TCR)ß-chain usage and expression of the CD3, CD4, and CD8 differentiation antigens were analyzed in 14 spontaneous AKR lymphomas. Lymphoma cells massively infiltrated and/or proliferated in the organs analyzed (thymus, spleen, and mesenteric lymph nodes), giving rise to a loss of organ structure. One lymphoma occurred only in the thymus, and failed to express CD3, CD4, and CD8. All other lymphomas expressed the CD3/TCR complex. With respect to CD4 and CD8 expression, the lymphomas were either double-negative (DN), double-positive (DP), or single-positive (SP). The frequency of DP (CD4+8+) lymphomas was low compared to the frequency of DP thymocytes in a normal AKR thymus. A substantial heterogeneity was seen in the intensity of CD4 and CD8 expression among various lymphomas, which was independent of the level of CD3 expression. Considering TCR Vßgene family usage, 2 out of 14 lymphomas expressed Vß6. Normally, Vß6+thymocytes are deleted from the thymocyte pool at the immature DP stage of T-cell development in AKR mice. These data support the hypothesis that the lymphocytes in the immature DP stage of T-cell development are susceptible to the induction of AKR lymphomagenesis. The presence of Vß6+lymphoma cells indicates that the lymphomagenesis is accompanied by a defective clonal deletion of cells expressing a possible autoreactive TCR.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (25) ◽  
pp. 7773-7778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung-Ok Lee ◽  
Xiao He ◽  
Jayati Mookerjee-Basu ◽  
Dai Zhongping ◽  
Xiang Hua ◽  
...  

The transcription factor T-helper-inducing POZ/Krueppel-like factor (ThPOK, encoded by the Zbtb7b gene) plays widespread and critical roles in T-cell development, particularly as the master regulator of CD4 commitment. Here we show that mice expressing a constitutive T-cell–specific ThPOK transgene (ThPOKconst mice) develop thymic lymphomas. These tumors resemble human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), in that they predominantly exhibit activating Notch1 mutations. Lymphomagenesis is prevented if thymocyte development is arrested at the DN3 stage by recombination-activating gene (RAG) deficiency, but restored by introduction of a T-cell receptor (TCR) transgene or by a single injection of anti-αβTCR antibody into ThPOKconst RAG-deficient mice, which promotes development to the CD4+8+ (DP) stage. Hence, TCR signals and/or traversal of the DN (double negative) > DP (double positive) checkpoint are required for ThPOK-mediated lymphomagenesis. These results demonstrate a novel link between ThPOK, TCR signaling, and lymphomagenesis. Finally, we present evidence that ectopic ThPOK expression gives rise to a preleukemic and self-perpetuating DN4 lymphoma precursor population. Our results collectively define a novel role for ThPOK as an oncogene and precisely map the stage in thymopoiesis susceptible to ThPOK-dependent tumor initiation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Jin ◽  
Tao Sun ◽  
Xiao-Hong Yu ◽  
Ying-Xiang Yang ◽  
Anthony E. T. Yeo

Invading pathogens have unique molecular signatures that are recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) resulting in either activation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and/or costimulation of T cells inducing both innate and adaptive immunity. TLRs are also involved in T-cell development and can reprogram Treg cells to become helper cells. T cells consist of various subsets, that is, Th1, Th2, Th17, T follicular helper (Tfh), cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), regulatory T cells (Treg) and these originate from thymic progenitor thymocytes. T-cell receptor (TCR) activation in distinct T-cell subsets with different TLRs results in differing outcomes, for example, activation of TLR4 expressed in T cells promotes suppressive function of regulatory T cells (Treg), while activation of TLR6 expressed in T cells abrogates Treg function. The current state of knowledge of regarding TLR-mediated T-cell development and differentiation is reviewed.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 124-124
Author(s):  
Ivan Maillard ◽  
Laleh Talebian ◽  
Zhe Li ◽  
Yalin Guo ◽  
Daisuke Sugiyama ◽  
...  

Abstract The family of core binding factors includes the DNA-binding subunits Runx1-3 and the common non-DNA binding partner CBFβ. Runx1 and CBFβ are essential for the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells during fetal development, but not for stem cell maintenance during later ontogeny. Runx1 is also required for megakaryocyte differentiation, B cell development, and for the DN2 to DN3 transition in thymocyte development. Runx2/CBFβ are critical for normal osteogenesis, and Runx3 for CD4 silencing in CD8+ T cells, but their contribution to other steps of hematopoietic development is unknown. To examine the collective role of core binding factors in hematopoiesis, we generated a hypomorphic Cbfb allele (Cbfbrss). CBFβ protein levels were reduced by approximately 2–3 fold in fetuses homozygous for the Cbfbrss allele (Cbfbrss/rss), and 3–4 fold in fetuses carrying one hypomorphic and one knockout allele (Cbfbrss/−). Cbfbrss/rss and Cbfbrss/− fetuses had normal erythroid and B cell development, and relatively mild abnormalities in megakaryocyte and granulocyte differentiation. In contrast, T cell development was very sensitive to an incremental reduction of CBFβ levels: mature thymocytes were decreased in Cbfbrss/rss fetuses, and virtually absent in Cbfbrss/−fetuses. We next assessed the development of Cbfbrss/rss and Cbfbrss/− fetal liver progenitors after transplantation to irradiated adult recipients, in competition with wild-type (wt) bone marrow cells. Wt, Cbfbrss/rss and Cbfbrss/− fetal progenitors replenished the erythroid, myeloid and B cell compartments equally well. The overall development of Cbfbrss/rss T cells was preserved, although CD4 expression was derepressed in double negative thymocytes. In Cbfbrss/− chimeras, mature thymocytes were entirely derived from competitor cells. Furthermore, the developmental block in Cbfbrss/− progenitors was present at the earliest stages of T cell development within the DN1 (ETP) and DN2 subsets. Our data define a critical CBFβ threshold for normal T cell development, and they situate an essential role of core binding factors during the earliest stages of T cell development. In addition, early thymopoiesis appeared more severely affected by reduced CBFβ dosage than by the lack of Runx1 (Ichikawa et al., Nat Med 2004; Growney et al., Blood 2005), suggesting that Runx2/3 may contribute to core binding factor activity in the T cell lineage.


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