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Role of interleukin‐7 in T‐cell development from hematopoietic stem cells
Author(s) -
Akashi Koichi,
Kondo Motonari,
Weissman Irving L
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
immunological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.839
H-Index - 223
eISSN - 1600-065X
pISSN - 0105-2896
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1998.tb01226.x
Subject(s) - biology , lymphopoiesis , haematopoiesis , microbiology and biotechnology , stem cell , progenitor cell , downregulation and upregulation , population , immunology , genetics , gene , medicine , environmental health
Summary: All lymphocytes are derived from hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). The interleukin‐7 receptor (IL‐7R) transduces non‐redundant signals for both T and B‐cell development from HSC. The upregulation of the IL‐7R occurs at the stage of the clonogenic common lymphoid progenitor, a recently identified population that can give rise to all lymphoid lineages (T, B and natural killer cells) at a single cell level. The IL‐7R plays a critical role in the rearrangement of immunoglobulin heavy chain genes required for B‐cell development, IL‐7R expression is critically regulated in developing thymocytes; thytnocytes that fail the positive selection process down‐regulate the IL‐7R, but those undergoing positive selection upregulate or maintain IL‐7R expression. Recent data indicate that IL‐7 signaling enhances the survival of developing thymocytes and mature T ceils, presumably by its upregulating Bcl‐2. Detailed analysis of the signaling cascades activated by the IL‐7R may help to reveal the differential roles of IL‐7 signaling in T and B‐cell development.