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Blood, 26 March 2009, Vol. 113, No. 13, pp. 2976-2987. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on January 22, 2009; DOI 10.1182/blood-2008-06-164921. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Figures All Versions of this Article: blood-2008-06-164921v1 113/13/2976    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sultana, D. A. Articles by Takahama, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sultana, D. A. Articles by Takahama, Y. Related Collections Hematopoiesis and Stem Cells Immunobiology Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Article  IMMUNOBIOLOGY Gene expression profile of the third pharyngeal pouch reveals role of mesenchymal MafB in embryonic thymus development Dil Afroz Sultana1,*, Shuhei Tomita1,*, Michito Hamada2, Yasuyuki Iwanaga1,3, Yuki Kitahama1, Nguyen Van Khang1, Shuichi Hirai1,3, Izumi Ohigashi1, Sachiko Nitta1, Takashi Amagai4, Satoru Takahashi2, and Yousuke Takahama1 1 Division of Experimental Immunology, Institute for Genome Research, University of Tokushima, Tokushima; 2 Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki; 3 Department of Anesthesiology and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa; and 4 Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, Kyoto, Japan The thymus provides a microenvironment that induces the differentiation of T-progenitor cells into functional T cells and that establishes a diverse yet self-tolerant T-cell repertoire. However, the mechanisms that lead to the development of the thymus are incompletely understood. We report herein the results of screening for genes that are expressed in the third pharyngeal pouch, which contains thymic primordium. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–based cDNA subtraction screening for genes expressed in microdissected tissues of the third pharyngeal pouch rather than the second pharyngeal arch yielded one transcription factor, MafB, which was predominantly expressed in CD45–IA–PDGFR+ mesenchymal cells and was detectable even in the third pharyngeal pouch of FoxN1-deficient nude mice. Interestingly, the number of CD45+ cells that initially accumulated in the embryonic thymus was significantly decreased in MafB-deficient mice. Alterations of gene expression in the embryonic thymi of MafB-deficient mice included the reduced expression of Wnt3 and BMP4 in mesenchymal cells and of CCL21 and CCL25 in epithelial cells. These results suggest that MafB expressed in third pharyngeal pouch mesenchymal cells critically regulates lymphocyte accumulation in the embryonic thymus. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

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