Screpanti I, Scarpa S, Meco D, Bellavia D, Stuppia L, Frati L, Modesti A, Gulino A
Department of Experimental Medicine and Pathology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
J Cell Biol. 1995 Jul;130(1):183-92. doi: 10.1083/jcb.130.1.183.
Neural crest-derived cells populate the thymus, and their coexistence with epithelial cells is required for proper organ development and T cell education function. We show here that epidermal growth factor (EGF), a major epithelial cell growth-enhancing agent, has a morphogenetic action to promote the expression of a neuronal phenotype (e.g., neurofilament expression) in cultured thymic epithelial cells that are characterized by a cytokeratin-positive epithelial cell background. The proliferation of such neurodifferentiated cells is also enhanced by EGF. Furthermore, the growth factor enhances cells that express the genes encoding the preprotachykinin A-generated neuropeptides and bipotential neuropoietic and lymphopoietic cytokines ciliary neurotrophic factor and interleukin-6. These cytokines also enhance the neuronal phenotype of thymic epithelial cells. Therefore, EGF appears to be a composite autocrine/paracrine neuromodulator in thymic stroma. This suggests that EGF may regulate thymus-dependent immune functions by promoting neuronal gene expression in neural crest-derived cells.
神经嵴衍生细胞定居于胸腺，它们与上皮细胞的共存是器官正常发育和T细胞教育功能所必需的。我们在此表明，表皮生长因子（EGF）作为一种主要的上皮细胞生长促进剂，对以细胞角蛋白阳性上皮细胞为背景的培养胸腺上皮细胞具有形态发生作用，可促进神经元表型的表达（如神经丝表达）。EGF还可增强此类神经分化细胞的增殖。此外，该生长因子可增强表达由前速激肽原A产生的神经肽以及双潜能神经生成和淋巴细胞生成细胞因子睫状神经营养因子和白细胞介素-6的基因的细胞。这些细胞因子也可增强胸腺上皮细胞的神经元表型。因此，EGF似乎是胸腺基质中的一种复合自分泌/旁分泌神经调节剂。这表明EGF可能通过促进神经嵴衍生细胞中神经元基因的表达来调节胸腺依赖性免疫功能。
