TY - JOUR
T1 - The thymus and T-cell commitment: the right niche for Notch?
AU - Jenkinson, Eric
AU - Jenkinson, William
AU - Rossi, Simona
AU - Anderson, Graham
PY - 2006/7/1
Y1 - 2006/7/1
N2 - The current dogma is that the thymus is colonized by progenitors that retain the capacity to generate both T cells and B cells, and that intrathymic Notch signalling determines lineage choice so that T cells, rather than B cells, develop in the thymus. However, evidence is now accumulating to indicate that, at least during fetal life, this is not the case. Rather, it now seems that the fetal thymus is colonized by progenitors that have already made the T-cell versus B-cell lineage choice. We propose an alternative role for Notch signalling in the thymus, which is not to mediate this choice but instead to reveal it by supporting further T-cell differentiation in the thymic microenvironment.
AB - The current dogma is that the thymus is colonized by progenitors that retain the capacity to generate both T cells and B cells, and that intrathymic Notch signalling determines lineage choice so that T cells, rather than B cells, develop in the thymus. However, evidence is now accumulating to indicate that, at least during fetal life, this is not the case. Rather, it now seems that the fetal thymus is colonized by progenitors that have already made the T-cell versus B-cell lineage choice. We propose an alternative role for Notch signalling in the thymus, which is not to mediate this choice but instead to reveal it by supporting further T-cell differentiation in the thymic microenvironment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33745574980&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nri1883
DO - 10.1038/nri1883
M3 - Article
C2 - 16799474
SN - 1474-1741
VL - 6
SP - 551
EP - 555
JO - Nature Reviews Immunology
JF - Nature Reviews Immunology
IS - 7
ER -