Failure of rearranged TCR transgenes to prevent age-associated thymic involution
| Autor: | H D, Lacorazza, J A, Guevara Patiño, M E, Weksler, D, Radu, J, Nikolić-Zugić |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1999 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Aging Receptors Antigen T-Cell alpha-beta Mice Transgenic Thymus Gland Immunophenotyping Major Histocompatibility Complex Mice Inbred C57BL Mice T-Lymphocyte Subsets Animals Female Lymphocyte Count Transgenes Gene Rearrangement beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor Gene Rearrangement alpha-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor |
| Zdroj: | Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 163(8) |
| ISSN: | 0022-1767 |
| Popis: | After puberty, the thymus undergoes a dramatic loss in volume, in weight and in the number of thymocytes, a phenomenon termed age-associated thymic involution. Recently, it was reported that age-associated thymic involution did not occur in mice expressing a rearranged transgenic (Tg) TCRalphabeta receptor. This finding implied that an age-associated defect in TCR rearrangement was the major, if not the only, cause for thymic involution. Here, we examined thymic involution in three other widely used MHC class I-restricted TCRalphabeta Tg mouse strains and compared it with that in non-Tg mice. In all three TCRalphabeta Tg strains, as in control mice, thymocyte numbers were reduced by approximately 90% between 2 and 24 mo of age. The presence or absence of the selecting MHC molecules did not alter this age-associated cell loss. Our results indicate that the expression of a rearranged TCR alone cannot, by itself, prevent thymic involution. Consequently, other presently unknown factors must also contribute to this phenomenon. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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