A thymic pathway of mouse natural killer cell development characterized by expression of GATA-3 and CD127
CAJ Vosshenrich, ME García-Ojeda… - Nature …, 2006 - nature.com
CAJ Vosshenrich, ME García-Ojeda, SI Samson-Villéger, V Pasqualetto, L Enault, ORL Goff…
Nature immunology, 2006•nature.comNatural killer (NK) cell development is thought to occur in the bone marrow. Here we identify
the transcription factor GATA-3 and CD127 (IL-7Rα) as molecular markers of a pathway of
mouse NK cell development that originates in the thymus. Thymus-derived CD127+ NK cells
repopulated peripheral lymphoid organs, and their homeostasis was strictly dependent on
GATA-3 and interleukin 7. The CD127+ NK cells had a distinct phenotype (CD11bloCD16−
CD69hiLy49lo) and unusual functional attributes, including reduced cytotoxicity but …
the transcription factor GATA-3 and CD127 (IL-7Rα) as molecular markers of a pathway of
mouse NK cell development that originates in the thymus. Thymus-derived CD127+ NK cells
repopulated peripheral lymphoid organs, and their homeostasis was strictly dependent on
GATA-3 and interleukin 7. The CD127+ NK cells had a distinct phenotype (CD11bloCD16−
CD69hiLy49lo) and unusual functional attributes, including reduced cytotoxicity but …
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cell development is thought to occur in the bone marrow. Here we identify the transcription factor GATA-3 and CD127 (IL-7Rα) as molecular markers of a pathway of mouse NK cell development that originates in the thymus. Thymus-derived CD127+ NK cells repopulated peripheral lymphoid organs, and their homeostasis was strictly dependent on GATA-3 and interleukin 7. The CD127+ NK cells had a distinct phenotype (CD11bloCD16−CD69hiLy49lo) and unusual functional attributes, including reduced cytotoxicity but considerable cytokine production. Those characteristics are reminiscent of human CD56hiCD16− NK cells, which we found expressed CD127 and had more GATA-3 expression than human CD56+CD16+ NK cells. We propose that bone marrow and thymic NK cell pathways generate distinct mouse NK cells with properties similar to those of the two human CD56 NK cell subsets.
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