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Thymic Alterations in EphA4-Deficient Mice¹

Juan J. Muñoz^*, David Alfaro, Javier García-Ceca, Luis M. Alonso-C^*, Eva Jiménez and Agustín Zapata^2,

^* Microscopy and Cytometry Center, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain; Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain; and Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain

In the present work, we have demonstrated in vivo an altered maturation of the thymic epithelium that results in defective T cell development which increases with age, in the thymus of Eph A4-deficient mice. The deficient thymi are hypocellular and show decreased proportions of double-positive (CD4⁺CD8⁺) cells which reach minimal numbers in 4-wk-old thymi. The EphA4 ^–/– phenotype correlates with an early block of T cell precursor differentiation that results in accumulation of CD44^–CD25⁺ triple-negative cells and, sometimes, of CD44⁺CD25^– triple-negative thymocytes as well as with increased numbers of apoptotic cells and an important reduction in the numbers of cycling thymocytes. Various approaches support a key role of the thymic epithelial cells in the observed phenotype. Thymic cytoarchitecture undergoes profound changes earlier than those found in the thymocyte maturation. Thymic cortex is extremely reduced and consists of densely packed thymic epithelial cells. Presumably the lack of forward Eph A4 signaling in the Eph A4 ^–/– epithelial cells affects their development and finally results in altered T cell development.