Control of development and tolerogenic properties of thymic epithelial cells by micro RNAs
Final Report Abstract
To date, the mechanisms that orchestrate TEC development and their capacity to support distinct aspects of positive and negative selection of the T cell repertoire are only incompletely understood. Here, we initially planned to address an as yet unexplored layer of genetic control in TECs, that is, the role of micro (mi)RNAs. Due to unforeseen technical problems encountered in the first half of the funding period, we decided not to further pursue this initial goal and embarked on two alternative projects, one dealing with the role of CD83 for positive selection of CD4 T cells, the other with central tolerance to a CNS autoantigen. The first project revealed that CD83 regulates CD4 T cell selection through March-mediated control of MHC II on cTECs, the second project uncovered an unexpected age-dependency of central tolerance to myelin PLP.
Publications
- (2014) Positive and negative selection of the T cell repertoire: what thymocytes see (and don’t see). Nature Reviews Immunology, 14(6):377-391
Klein L., Kyewski B., Allen P.M. and Hogquist K.A.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/nri3667)
