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T-Cell Receptor Signaling pp 267–283Cite as

Studying Peripheral T Cell Homeostasis in Mice: A Concise Technical Review

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Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB,volume 2111)

Abstract

For several years, it was believed that the thymus was entirely responsible for maintaining T cell homeostasis. Today, it is well-known that homeostatic peripheral mechanisms are essential in order to maintain T cell numbers and diversity constant in the periphery. Naïve and memory T cells require continual access to self-peptide MHC class I and II molecules and/or cytokines to survive in the periphery. Under normal conditions, homeostatic resources are low, and lymphocytes undergo very slow proliferation and survive. Following T cell depletion, the bioavailability of homeostatic resources is significantly increased, and T cell proliferation is dramatically augmented. The development of lymphopenic mouse models has helped our current understanding of factors involved in the regulation of peripheral T cell homeostasis. In this minireview, we will give a brief overview about basic techniques used to study peripheral T cell homeostasis in mice.

Key words

  • Lymphopenia
  • Homeostasis
  • Lymphocytes
  • CD4
  • CD8

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Cancer Research Society of Canada (grant no. 22669 and 24380 to M.G.) and in part by a grant from the Foundation de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division Immunologie-Oncologie, Centre de Recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Martin Guimond

  2. Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Moutuaata M. Moutuou, Simon-David Gauthier & Martin Guimond

  3. Département de Biochimie et médecine moléculaire, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Nicolas Chen

  4. Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia

    Dominique Leboeuf

Authors
  1. Moutuaata M. Moutuou
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  2. Simon-David Gauthier
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  3. Nicolas Chen
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  4. Dominique Leboeuf
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  5. Martin Guimond
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Guimond .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathogen Biology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Chaohong Liu

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Moutuou, M.M., Gauthier, SD., Chen, N., Leboeuf, D., Guimond, M. (2020). Studying Peripheral T Cell Homeostasis in Mice: A Concise Technical Review. In: Liu, C. (eds) T-Cell Receptor Signaling. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2111. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0266-9_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0266-9_21

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