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Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells

The thymus is unique in its ability to support the maturation of phenotypically and functionally distinct T cell sub-lineages. Through its combined production of MHC-restricted conventional CD4(+) and CD8(+), and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells, as well as non-conventional CD1d-restricted iNKT cells and...

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Autores principales: Alawam, Abdullah S., Anderson, Graham, Lucas, Beth
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7221188/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32457758
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00858
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author Alawam, Abdullah S.
Anderson, Graham
Lucas, Beth
author_facet Alawam, Abdullah S.
Anderson, Graham
Lucas, Beth
author_sort Alawam, Abdullah S.
collection PubMed
description The thymus is unique in its ability to support the maturation of phenotypically and functionally distinct T cell sub-lineages. Through its combined production of MHC-restricted conventional CD4(+) and CD8(+), and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells, as well as non-conventional CD1d-restricted iNKT cells and invariant γδT cells, the thymus represents an important orchestrator of immune system development and control. It is now clear that thymus function is largely determined by the availability of stromal microenvironments. These specialized areas emerge during thymus organogenesis and are maintained throughout life. They are formed from both epithelial and mesenchymal components, and collectively they support a stepwise program of thymocyte development. Of these stromal cells, cortical, and medullary thymic epithelial cells represent functional components of thymic microenvironments in both the cortex and medulla. Importantly, a key feature of thymus function is that levels of T cell production are not constant throughout life. Here, multiple physiological factors including aging, stress and pregnancy can have either short- or long-term detrimental impact on rates of thymus function. Here, we summarize our current understanding of the development and function of thymic epithelial cells, and relate this to strategies to protect and/or restore thymic epithelial cell function for therapeutic benefit.
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spelling pubmed-72211882020-05-25 Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells Alawam, Abdullah S. Anderson, Graham Lucas, Beth Front Immunol Immunology The thymus is unique in its ability to support the maturation of phenotypically and functionally distinct T cell sub-lineages. Through its combined production of MHC-restricted conventional CD4(+) and CD8(+), and Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells, as well as non-conventional CD1d-restricted iNKT cells and invariant γδT cells, the thymus represents an important orchestrator of immune system development and control. It is now clear that thymus function is largely determined by the availability of stromal microenvironments. These specialized areas emerge during thymus organogenesis and are maintained throughout life. They are formed from both epithelial and mesenchymal components, and collectively they support a stepwise program of thymocyte development. Of these stromal cells, cortical, and medullary thymic epithelial cells represent functional components of thymic microenvironments in both the cortex and medulla. Importantly, a key feature of thymus function is that levels of T cell production are not constant throughout life. Here, multiple physiological factors including aging, stress and pregnancy can have either short- or long-term detrimental impact on rates of thymus function. Here, we summarize our current understanding of the development and function of thymic epithelial cells, and relate this to strategies to protect and/or restore thymic epithelial cell function for therapeutic benefit. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-05-07 /pmc/articles/PMC7221188/ /pubmed/32457758 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00858 Text en Copyright © 2020 Alawam, Anderson and Lucas. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Immunology
Alawam, Abdullah S.
Anderson, Graham
Lucas, Beth
Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells
title Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells
title_full Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells
title_fullStr Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells
title_full_unstemmed Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells
title_short Generation and Regeneration of Thymic Epithelial Cells
title_sort generation and regeneration of thymic epithelial cells
topic Immunology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7221188/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32457758
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00858
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