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Bipotency of thymic epithelial progenitors comes in sequence
Author(s) -
Peterson Pärt,
Laan Martti
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.272
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1521-4141
pISSN - 0014-2980
DOI - 10.1002/eji.201343323
Subject(s) - biology , progenitor , progenitor cell , lineage (genetic) , phenotype , medullary cavity , microbiology and biotechnology , major histocompatibility complex , tec , immunology , evolutionary biology , stem cell , genetics , anatomy , antigen , gene , ionosphere , physics , astronomy
In the thymus, in order to become MHC‐restricted self‐tolerant T cells, developing thymocytes need to interact with cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (TECs). Although the presence of a common bipotent progenitor for these functionally and structurally distinct epithelial subsets has been clearly established, the initial developmental stages of these bipotent cells have not been well characterized. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology , Baik et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2013.43: 589–594] focus on the phenotypical changes of the early bipotent populations and show how the cortical and medullary markers are sequentially acquired during TEC development. These findings argue against a binary model in which both cortical and medullary lineages diverge simultaneously from lineage‐negative TEC progenitors and highlight an unexpected overlap in the phenotypic properties of these bipotent TECs with their lineage‐restricted counterparts.