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. 1988 Nov 1;168(5):1741–1747. doi: 10.1084/jem.168.5.1741

Essential role of the interleukin 2-interleukin 2 receptor pathway in thymocyte maturation in vivo

PMCID: PMC2189119  PMID: 3263466

Abstract

The role of the IL-2-IL-2-R pathway in thymocyte differentiation in vivo is unknown. We have examined fetal thymocyte development in vivo, under conditions where all IL-2-R were saturated from day 13 of gestation with anti-IL-2-R mAbs that were previously shown to render mature T cells unable to respond to IL-2. This produced a dramatic change in the composition of developing T cells: thymocytes from day 1 neonatal mice born to anti-IL-2-R-treated mothers did not contain CD4+ or CD8+ single-positive cell populations. In addition, no generation of surface TCR beta chain-expressing T cells or antigen-reactive functional T cells occurred in treated mice. These data suggest that IL- 2-IL-2-R interactions provide signals crucial to in vivo intrathymic development of mature T cells.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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