Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Thymic T-cell development is initiated from bone marrow-derived multi-potent thymus seeding progenitors (TSPs). During the early stages of thymocyte differentiation progenitors become T-cell restricted. However, the cellular environments supporting these critical initial stages of T-cell development within the thymic cortex are not known. We here use the dependence of early, c-Kit–expressing thymic progenitors on Kit ligand (KitL) to show that CD4–CD8–c-Kit+CD25– DN1-stage progenitors associate with, and depend on the membrane-bound form of KitL (mKitL) provided by, a cortex-specific KitL-expressing vascular endothelial cell (VEC) population. In contrast, the subsequent CD4–CD8–c-Kit+CD25+ DN2 stage progenitors associate selectively with cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTECs) and depend on cTEC-presented mKitL. These results show that the dynamic process of early thymic progenitor differentiation is paralleled by migration-dependent changes to the supporting niche, and identify VECs as a thymic niche cell, with mKitL as a critical ligand.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nature Cell Biology

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Publication Date

01/02/2016