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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Mar 15.
Published in final edited form as: J Immunol. 2013 Feb 1;190(6):2659–2669. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1202531

Figure 8. A model of V6 development in wild type and Itk−/− mice.

Figure 8

In wild-type (WT) mice (left), V6 cells initially develop from fetal precursors (pink) and expand in the thymus during the first two weeks after birth (22). These cells undergo a maturation program similar to αβ iNKT cells before emigrating to the periphery, with a preference for homing to the liver (bold pink). As WT mice age, a second wave of V6 cells develops from adult precursors (blue) and matures prior to emigrating to peripheral lymphoid organs. A small number of fetal-derived and adult-derived V6 cells are present and continuously maturing in the thymus of adult mice. Similar to WT V6 cells, Itk−/− V6 cells (right) also initially develop from fetal precursors (pink) and preferentially home to the liver; however increased numbers of V6 cells are found in the absence of Itk. A second wave of adult precursor-derived Itk−/− V6 cells also develops in increased numbers (blue). Itk−/− V6 cells have a defect in terminal maturation and retain high expression of PLZF and IL-4 relative to WT V6 cells. In addition, Itk−/− V6 cells arising from adult precursors are able to emigrate to the liver (green). E20, embryonic day 20.