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Blood, 1 February 2007, Vol. 109, No. 3, pp. 954-960. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on September 28, 2006; DOI 10.1182/blood-2006-05-023143. This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: blood-2006-05-023143v1 109/3/954    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted 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 HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jenkinson, W. E Articles by Anderson, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jenkinson, W. E Articles by Anderson, G. Related Collections Related Article in Blood Online Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Next Article  Submitted May 12, 2006 Accepted September 17, 2006 PDGFR-expressing mesenchyme regulates thymus growth and the availability of intrathymic niches William E Jenkinson, Simona W Rossi, Sonia M Parnell, Eric J Jenkinson, and Graham Anderson* Institute for Biomedical Research, University of Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham, UK * Corresponding author; email: g.anderson{at}bham.ac.uk. The thymus provides a specialised site for the production of T-cells capable of recognising foreign antigens in the context of self-MHC molecules. During development, the thymus arises from an epithelial rudiment containing bipotent progenitors that differentiate into distinct cortical and medullary epithelial cells to regulate the maturation and selection of self-tolerant CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. In addition to their differentiation, thymic epithelial cells undergo cellular expansion to ensure that sufficient intrathymic cellular niches are available to support the large number of immature thymocytes required to form a self-tolerant T-cell pool. Thus, intrathymic T-cell production is intimately linked to the formation and availability of niches within thymic microenvironments. Here, we show the increase in intrathymic niches caused by proliferation of epithelium in the developing thymus is temporally regulated, and correlates with the presence of a population of fetal thymic mesenchyme defined by Platelet Derived Growth Factor Receptor-alpha (PDGFR) expression. Depletion of PDGFR+ mesenchyme from embryonic thymuses prior to their transplantation to ectopic sites results in the formation of functional, yet hypoplastic, thymic tissue. In summary, we highlight a specialised role for PDGFR+ fetal mesenchyme in the thymus by determining availability of thymic niches through the regulation of thymic epithelial proliferation. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? Related Article in Blood Online: Another brick in building the thymus Carlo Riccardi Blood 2007 109: 856. [Full Text] [PDF] This article has been cited by other articles: C. Odaka Localization of Mesenchymal Cells in Adult Mouse Thymus: Their Abnormal Distribution in Mice With Disorganization of Thymic Medullary Epithelium J. Histochem. Cytochem., April 1, 2009; 57(4): 373 - 382. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] D. A. Sultana, S. Tomita, M. Hamada, Y. Iwanaga, Y. Kitahama, N. Van Khang, S. Hirai, I. Ohigashi, S. Nitta, T. Amagai, et al. Gene expression profile of the third pharyngeal pouch reveals role of mesenchymal MafB in embryonic thymus development Blood, March 26, 2009; 113(13): 2976 - 2987. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] S. Shakib, G. E. Desanti, W. E. Jenkinson, S. M. Parnell, E. J. Jenkinson, and G. Anderson Checkpoints in the Development of Thymic Cortical Epithelial Cells J. Immunol., January 1, 2009; 182(1): 130 - 137. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] W. E. Jenkinson, A. Bacon, A. J. White, G. Anderson, and E. J. Jenkinson An Epithelial Progenitor Pool Regulates Thymus Growth J. Immunol., November 1, 2008; 181(9): 6101 - 6108. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] S. M. Muller, C. C. Stolt, G. Terszowski, C. Blum, T. Amagai, N. Kessaris, P. Iannarelli, W. D. Richardson, M. Wegner, and H.-R. Rodewald Neural Crest Origin of Perivascular Mesenchyme in the Adult Thymus J. Immunol., April 15, 2008; 180(8): 5344 - 5351. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] N. Seach, T. Ueno, A. L. Fletcher, T. Lowen, M. Mattesich, C. R. Engwerda, H. S. Scott, C. F. Ware, A. P. Chidgey, D. H. D. Gray, et al. The Lymphotoxin Pathway Regulates Aire-Independent Expression of Ectopic Genes and Chemokines in Thymic Stromal Cells J. Immunol., April 15, 2008; 180(8): 5384 - 5392. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] K. Foster, J. Sheridan, H. Veiga-Fernandes, K. Roderick, V. Pachnis, R. Adams, C. Blackburn, D. Kioussis, and M. Coles Contribution of Neural Crest-Derived Cells in the Embryonic and Adult Thymus J. Immunol., March 1, 2008; 180(5): 3183 - 3189. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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