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. 2015 Sep 8;6:461. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00461

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Negative regulation of mTEC differentiation by the RANK–Spi-B–OPG–RANKL feedback loop. mTECs are derived from a common progenitor that can give rise to both mTECs and cTECs. RANK signaling promotes differentiation of relatively immature mTECs into mTECs expressing high levels of MHC class II (MHC II), CD80, and Aire. A recent study suggested that RANK signaling upregulates expression of Spi-B. Spi-B promotes expression of some TSAs, CD80, and osteoprotegerin (OPG), a secreted decoy receptor for RANK, in mTECs. OPG, in turn, competitively inhibits RANKL–RANK interactions, thereby inhibiting the RANKL-dependent process of mTEC differentiation.