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Differential lineage specification of thymic epithelial cells from bipotent precursors revealed by TSCOT promoter activities

Genes & Immunity volume 14, pages 401–406 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Mechanism of thymic compartmentalization was studied in the transgenic system using the promoter of thymic stromal cotransporter (TSCOT), a cortical thymic epithelium-specific gene. The transgenic 3.1 kb TSCOT (3.1T) and 4.4 kb TSCOT (4.4T) promoters recapitulated the thymic organ and the cortical epithelial cell-specific expression at the newborn stage. However, the 3.1T driving enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP; 3.1T-EGFP) or Cre-recombinase (3.1T-CreE) redistributed the expression into the medulla at the adult stages. Two Cre-transgenic lines (3.1T-CreE and 4.4T-CreE), when crossed with the ROSA LacZ or EGFP lines, showed the reporter expression in both the cortex and the medulla. TSCOT promoter activities were also verified in the transient thymic epithelial cell (TEC) population expressing keratin 5 and keratin 8. These indicate that the TSCOT promoter is turned on in the bipotent TEC precursors and regulated in a compartment-specific, developmentally regulated fashion. These transgenic lines provide the useful systems for delineating the specific pathways for TEC lineage development and function.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Ronald H Schwartz for the generous support in the generation and maintenance of the mouse lines and Dr Hanwoong Lee for the help in maintaining the mouse lines. We also thank Seung Hyuk Lee and Dong Young Kim for their technical help.

This work was supported by the Korean Health Technology R+D project, Ministry of Health and Wellness (A110703) and Inha University Research Grant.

Author information

Author notes

  1. G Lee

    Present address: 6Current address: Logos Biosystems, Pyungchon-Dong, Anyang, Republic of Korea.,

  2. S J Yang

    Present address: 7Current address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Immunology and Pathogenesis, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.,

  3. C-S Park and G Lee: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    C-S Park

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA

    G Lee

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Inha University, Yonghyun-dong, Incheon, Republic of Korea

    S J Yang, K Y Kim, H Shin & M G Kim

  4. Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    S Ahn

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  1. C-S Park
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Correspondence to M G Kim.

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Park, CS., Lee, G., Yang, S. et al. Differential lineage specification of thymic epithelial cells from bipotent precursors revealed by TSCOT promoter activities. Genes Immun 14, 401–406 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2013.30

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