Abstract
Lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells are associated with early development of lymph nodes and Peyer's patches. We show here that during fetal life the nuclear hormone receptor RORγt is expressed exclusively in and is required for the generation of LTi cells. RORγt+ LTi cells provide essential factors, among which lymphotoxin-α1β2 is necessary but not sufficient for activation of the mesenchyma in lymph node and Peyer's patch anlagen. This early LTi cell–mediated activation of lymph node and Peyer's patch mesenchyma forms the necessary platform for the subsequent development of mature lymphoid tissues.
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Acknowledgements
BLC- and Id2-deficient mice were from J. Cyster (University of California at San Francisco, California) and Y. Yokota (Fukui Medical University, Fukui, Japan), respectively. The fusion protein TNF-R-I–Ig and the mAb AF.H6 were from J. Browning (Biogen). We thank J. Cyster, J. Browning, T. Sparwasser, T. Soos and B. Albrecht for discussions and critical reading of the manuscript. Supported by Swiss National Science Foundation (G.E.) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (D.R.L.).
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Eberl, G., Marmon, S., Sunshine, MJ. et al. An essential function for the nuclear receptor RORγt in the generation of fetal lymphoid tissue inducer cells. Nat Immunol 5, 64–73 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1022
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