Two Main Features of T-Cell Development: Thymus Traffic and Postthymic Maturation

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
One of the many reasons for the sustained interest in the ontogeny of T cells in mammals is the expectation that the process of adult differentiation and renewal of T cells should follow the same pathways as the development of the T-cell pool during early embryonation. In general, there is agreement between the major steps of ontogenic development and adult renewal of T cells. In this review, I will discuss two aspects of T-cell development, both of which appear critical for the generation of immunologically competent T cells: (1) the notion that there is further maturation of postthymic precursors in extrathymic lymphoid sites (i.e., the idea that what the thymus exports is not necessarily a fully competent T lymphocyte) and (2) the traffic of cells to and from the thymus (a necessary factor that requires a stream of stem cells derived from hemopoietic sites and an intact thymic stroma). Although there is general agreement that the generation of T cells is strongly thymus-dependent, there are still many unanswered questions concerning the graded steps of this differentiation, even within the intrathymic environment.

This publication has 112 references indexed in Scilit: