NKAP is Required for T Cell Maturation and Acquisition of Functional Competency

Overview

Journal J Exp Med

Specialties Allergy & Immunology
General Medicine

Date 2011 Jun 1

PMID 21624937

Citations 39

Authors

Fan-Chi Hsu

Anthony G Pajerowski

Molly Nelson-Holte

Rhianna Sundsbak

Virginia Smith Shapiro

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Newly generated T cells are unable to respond to antigen/MHC. Rather, post-selection single-positive thymocytes must undergo T cell maturation to gain functional competency and enter the long-lived naive peripheral T cell pool. This process is poorly understood, as no gene specifically required for T cell maturation has been identified. Here, we demonstrate that loss of the transcriptional repressor NKAP results in a complete block in T cell maturation. In CD4-cre NKAP conditional knockout mice, thymic development including positive selection occurs normally, but there is a cell-intrinsic defect in the peripheral T cell pool. All peripheral naive CD4-cre NKAP conditional knockout T cells were found to be functionally immature recent thymic emigrants. This defect is not simply in cell survival, as the T cell maturation defect was not rescued by a Bcl-2 transgene. Thus, NKAP is required for T cell maturation and the acquisition of functional competency.

Citing Articles

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