Division of Experimental Immunology, Institute for Genomic Research, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan.
Eur J Immunol. 2011 Jul;41(7):1822-7. doi: 10.1002/eji.201141480.
The thymic medulla provides a microenvironment where medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) contribute to the establishment of self-tolerance by the deletion of self-reactive T cells and the generation of regulatory T cells. The progression of thymocyte development critically regulates the optimum formation of the thymic medulla, as discussed in this article. Of note, it was recently identified that RANKL produced by positively selected thymocytes plays a major role in the thymocyte-mediated medulla formation. Indeed, transgenic expression of soluble RANKL increased the number of mTECs and enlarged the thymic medulla in mice. The effects of RANKL on the thymic medulla may be useful for the engineering of self-tolerance in T cells.
胸腺髓质提供了一个微环境，其中髓质胸腺上皮细胞（mTEC）通过删除自身反应性 T 细胞和产生调节性 T 细胞来有助于建立自身耐受。正如本文所讨论的，胸腺细胞发育的进展对胸腺髓质的最佳形成具有重要的调节作用。值得注意的是，最近发现阳性选择的胸腺细胞产生的 RANKL 在胸腺细胞介导的髓质形成中起主要作用。事实上，可溶性 RANKL 的转基因表达增加了 mTEC 的数量并扩大了小鼠的胸腺髓质。RANKL 对胸腺髓质的影响可能有助于 T 细胞的自身耐受工程。
