Abstract
Lymphoid organs have developed to facilitate and to regulate the interaction of lymphocytes with non-lymphoid cells. In the mouse, pro-thymocytes originate in the fetal liver or the bone marrow; once they have entered the thymus, a complex series of differentiation steps leads to the generation of thymocytes bearing a diverse repertoire of T-cell receptors. The thymocytes are then subjected to various selection processes to eventually yield a population of T cells that exhibits self tolerance and restriction to self major histocompatibility complex. Because thymus development depends on reciprocal stromal-lymphoid interactions (1), it is disrupted by mutations affecting the differentiation of both the microenvironment (2) and T cells (3).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
van Ewijk W, Shores EW, Singer A (1994) Cross-talk in the mouse thymus. Immunol Today 15: 214–217.
Boehm T, Nehls M, Kyewski B (1995) Transcription factors that control development of thymic microenvironment. Immunol Today 16: 555–556.
Kisielow P, von Boehmer H (1995) Development and selection of T cells: facts and puzzles. Adv Immunol 58: 87–209.
Manley NR, Capecchi M (1995) The role of Hoxa-3 in mouse thymus and thyroid development. Development 121: 1989–2003.
Peters H, Neuböser A, Kratochwil K, Balling R (1998) Pax9-deficient mice lack pharyngeal pouch derivatives and teeth and exhibit craniofacial and limb abnormalities. Genes Dev 12: 2735–2747.
Nehls M., Pfeifer D., Schorpp M., Hedrich H. Boehm T. (1994) New member of the winged-helix protein family disrupted in mouse and rat nude mutations. Nature 372: 103–107.
Nehls M Kyewski B Messerle M Waldschütz R Schüddekopf K Smith AJH, Boehm T (1996) Two genetically separable steps in the differentiation of thymic epithelium. Science 272: 886–889.
Frank J, Pignata C, Panteleyev AA, Prowse DM, Baden H, Weiner L, Gaetaniello L, Ahmad W, Pozzi N, Cserhalmi-Friedman PB, Aita VM, Uyttendaele H, Gordon D, Ott J, Brissette JL, Christiano AM (1999) Exposing the human nude phenotype. Nature 398: 473–474.
Segré JA, Nemhauser JL, Taylor BA, Nadeau JH, Lander ES (1995) Positional cloning of the nude locus: genetic, physical, and transcription maps of the region and mutations in the mouse and rat. Genomics 28: 549–559.
Schlake T, Schorpp M, Maul-Pavicic A, Malashenko AM, Boehm T (2000) The forkhead/winged-helix transcription factor Whn regulates hair keratin gene expression: molecular analysis of the nude phenotype. Dev. Dyn. in press.
Hofmann M, Harris M, Juriloff D, Boehm T (1998) Spontaneous mutations in SELH/Bc mice due to insertions of early transposons: molecular characterization of null alleles at the nude and albino loci. Genomics 52: 107–109.
Schorpp M, Schlake T, Kreamalmeyer D, Allen PM, Boehm T (2000) Molecular characterization of a novel nude allele, nu sL, with antimorphic properties. submitted.
Schüddekopf K, Schorpp M, Boehm T (1996) The whn transcription factor encoded by the nude locus contains an evolutionarily conserved and functionally indispensable activation domain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93: 9661–9664.
Huth M, Schlake T, Boehm T (1997) Transposon-induced splicing defect in the rat nude gene. Immunogenetics 45: 282–283.
Lai E, Clark KL, Burley SK, Darnell JE Jr (1993) Hepatocyte nuclear factor 3/fork head or “winged helix” proteins: a family of transcription factors of diverse biologic function. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 10421–10423.
Schorpp M, Hofmann M, Dear TN, Boehm T (1997) Characterization of mouse and human nude genes. Immunogenetics 46: 509–515.
Schlake T, Schorpp M, Nehls M, Boehm T (1997) The nude gene encodes a sequence-specific DNA binding protein with homologs in organisms that lack an anticipatory immune system. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94: 3842–3847.
Driever W, Solnica-Krezel L, Schier AF, Neuhauss SCF, Malicki J, Stemple DL, Stanier DYR, Zwartkruis F, Abdeliah S, Rangini Z, Belak J Boggs C (1996) A genetic screen for mutations affecting embryogenesis in zebrafish. Development 123: 37–46.
Haffter P, Granato M, Brand M, Mullins MC, Hammerschmidt M, Kane DA, Odenthal J, van Eeden FJM, Jiang Y-J, Heisenberg C-P, Kelsh RN, Furutani-Seiki M, Warga RM, Vogelsang E, Beuchle D, Schach U, Fabian C, Nösslein-Volhard C (1996) The identification of genes with unique and essential functions in the development of the zebrafish, Danio reno. Development 123:1–36.
Westerfield M (1994) The zebrafish book: a guide for the laboratory use of zebrafish. Eugene, Oregon, University of Oregon Press.
Willett CE, Zapata AG, Hopkins N, Steiner LA (1997) Expression of zebrafish rag genes during early development identifies the thymus. Dev Biol 182: 331–341.
Clark KL, Halay ED, Lai E, Burley SK (1993) Co-crystal structure of the HNF-3/fork head DNA-recognition motif resembles histone H5. Nature 364: 412–420.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Schorpp, M., Wiest, W., Egger, C., Hammerschmidt, M., Schlake, T., Boehm, T. (2000). Genetic Dissection of Thymus Development. In: Melchers, F. (eds) Lymphoid Organogenesis. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 251. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57276-0_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57276-0_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-63186-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-57276-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive