The JI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     
 

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dooley, J.
Right arrow Articles by Farr, A. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dooley, J.
Right arrow Articles by Farr, A. G.
The Journal of Immunology, 2005, 175: 4331-4337.
Copyright © 2005 by The American Association of Immunologists

An Organized Medullary Epithelial Structure in the Normal Thymus Expresses Molecules of Respiratory Epithelium and Resembles the Epithelial Thymic Rudiment of Nude Mice1

James Dooley*, Matt Erickson* and Andrew G. Farr2,*,{dagger}

* Department of Biological Structure and {dagger} Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

The expression of tissue-specific Ags (TSA) within the thymic environment has emerged as an important contribution to the establishment of self-tolerance. The mechanistic basis for this property is poorly understood. One model has proposed stochastic derepression of gene expression by mature medullary epithelial cells, whereas another model has suggested that this property of thymic epithelial cells reflects transcriptional activity during their differentiation. Most of the analyses of thymic TSA expression have been done with populations of dissociated thymic epithelial cells; therefore, there is little information regarding the spatial pattern of TSA expression within the thymus. We have evaluated a subset of thymic epithelial cells in the murine thymus that display several unique features. First, within the normal thymus, they form cysts that express several TSA of respiratory epithelium and exhibit some morphological features consistent with respiratory epithelium. These cells also display a phenotypic profile that has been proposed for immature thymic epithelium. The cystic epithelia in the normal thymus and in the nude thymic rudiment are phenotypically very similar, suggesting that they may have a similar developmental program. The coordinated expression of respiratory TSA by an organized subset of thymic epithelial cells and the phenotypic resemblance of these cells to progenitor cells seem consistent with a developmental basis for TSA expression by thymic epithelial cells. Finally, epitopes that define thymic epithelial heterogeneity are reciprocally expressed by respiratory epithelium, which raises interesting questions regarding the developmental relationship of different endodermal derivatives.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
J. Dooley, M. Erickson, and A. G. Farr
Lessons from Thymic Epithelial Heterogeneity: FoxN1 and Tissue-Restricted Gene Expression by Extrathymic, Endodermally Derived Epithelium
J. Immunol., October 15, 2009; 183(8): 5042 - 5049.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
J. Dooley, M. Erickson, and A. G. Farr
Alterations of the Medullary Epithelial Compartment in the Aire-Deficient Thymus: Implications for Programs of Thymic Epithelial Differentiation
J. Immunol., October 15, 2008; 181(8): 5225 - 5232.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JEMHome page
A. Liston, A. G. Farr, Z. Chen, C. Benoist, D. Mathis, N. R. Manley, and A. Y. Rudensky
Lack of Foxp3 function and expression in the thymic epithelium
J. Exp. Med., March 19, 2007; 204(3): 475 - 480.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
G. O. Gillard, J. Dooley, M. Erickson, L. Peltonen, and A. G. Farr
Aire-Dependent Alterations in Medullary Thymic Epithelium Indicate a Role for Aire in Thymic Epithelial Differentiation
J. Immunol., March 1, 2007; 178(5): 3007 - 3015.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
W. Wang, J. Zhong, B. Su, Y. Zhou, and Y.-Q. Wang
Comparison of Pax1/9 Locus Reveals 500-Myr-Old Syntenic Block and Evolutionary Conserved Noncoding Regions
Mol. Biol. Evol., March 1, 2007; 24(3): 784 - 791.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
D. Lomada, B. Liu, L. Coghlan, Y. Hu, and E. R. Richie
Thymus Medulla Formation and Central Tolerance Are Restored in IKK{alpha}-/- Mice That Express an IKK{alpha} Transgene in Keratin 5+ Thymic Epithelial Cells
J. Immunol., January 15, 2007; 178(2): 829 - 837.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BloodHome page
G. O. Gillard and A. G. Farr
The thymus: a house dividing
Blood, December 1, 2006; 108(12): 3629 - 3630.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
J. Dooley, M. Erickson, G. O. Gillard, and A. G. Farr
Cervical Thymus in the Mouse.
J. Immunol., June 1, 2006; 176(11): 6484 - 6490.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Immunol.Home page
G. O. Gillard and A. G. Farr
Features of Medullary Thymic Epithelium Implicate Postnatal Development in Maintaining Epithelial Heterogeneity and Tissue-Restricted Antigen Expression
J. Immunol., May 15, 2006; 176(10): 5815 - 5824.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Website Copyright © 2005 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc. All rights reserved.
All Contents Copyright © 2005 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc. All rights reserved.