1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Correspondence to: Avinash Bhandoola¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.B. (Email: bhandooa@mail.med.upenn.edu).

Abstract

There exists controversy over the nature of haematopoietic progenitors of T cells. Most T cells develop in the thymus, but the lineage potential of thymus-colonizing progenitors is unknown. One approach to resolving this question is to determine the lineage potentials of the earliest thymic progenitors (ETPs). Previous work has shown that ETPs possess T and natural killer lymphoid potentials, and rare subsets of ETPs also possess B lymphoid potential¹, suggesting an origin from lymphoid-restricted progenitor cells. However, whether ETPs also possess myeloid potential is unknown. Here we show that nearly all ETPs in adult mice possess both T and myeloid potential in clonal assays. The existence of progenitors possessing T and myeloid potential within the thymus is incompatible with the current dominant model of haematopoiesis, in which T cells are proposed to arise from lymphoid-². Our results indicate that alternative models for lineage commitment during haematopoiesis must be considered.

1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Correspondence to: Avinash Bhandoola¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.B. (Email: bhandooa@mail.med.upenn.edu).

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