Puddington L, Olson S, Lefrançois L
Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington 06030.
Immunity. 1994 Dec;1(9):733-9. doi: 10.1016/s1074-7613(94)80015-4.
Interactions between stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor, c-Kit, are important for development of hematopoietic, melanocytes, and germ cells. T lymphocytes appeared normal in c-Kit (W/Wv) or SCF (SI/SId) mutant mice, except for those residing within the intestinal epithelium, the intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). Normally, IEL are composed of equal numbers of cells with alpha beta or gamma delta T cell receptors. In mutant mice, beginning at 6-8 weeks of age, the number of gamma delta IEL decreased, whereas alpha beta IEL increased. The latter was due largely to an increased CD4+ CD8+ TCR alpha beta subset, suggesting that these cells may be intermediates in the alpha beta IEL lineage. c-Kit or SCF was expressed by IEL or intestinal epithelial cells, respectively, indicating a potential for direct intercellular interaction. This possibility was supported by reconstitution studies that demonstrated that c-Kit mutations directly affected IEL. Thus, SCF-c-Kit interactions are important for homeostasis of the intestinal immune compartment.
干细胞因子（SCF）与其受体c-Kit之间的相互作用对于造血细胞、黑素细胞和生殖细胞的发育至关重要。在c-Kit（W/Wv）或SCF（SI/SId）突变小鼠中，T淋巴细胞看起来正常，但位于肠上皮内的上皮内淋巴细胞（IEL）除外。正常情况下，IEL由数量相等的具有αβ或γδ T细胞受体的细胞组成。在突变小鼠中，从6至8周龄开始，γδ IEL的数量减少，而αβ IEL增加。后者主要是由于CD4+ CD8+ TCR αβ亚群增加，这表明这些细胞可能是αβ IEL谱系中的中间细胞。IEL或肠上皮细胞分别表达c-Kit或SCF，表明存在直接细胞间相互作用的可能性。重建研究支持了这一可能性，该研究表明c-Kit突变直接影响IEL。因此，SCF-c-Kit相互作用对于肠道免疫区室的稳态很重要。
