Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Dead man walking: how thymocytes scan the medulla

Nature Immunology volume 10, pages 809–811 (2009)Cite this article

The thymic medulla provides a unique milieu for the induction of T cell tolerance. New work now provides a first glimpse of how thymocytes scan this microenvironment and thus maximize their chances of encountering self antigen.

There is a remarkably precise understanding of the temporal and spatial order of thymocyte development and how the processes of T lineage commitment, positive selection and tolerance induction occur in discrete areas of the thymus1. Much of this knowledge is the result of the correlation of histological observations with an increasingly detailed delineation of precursor-progeny relationships among thymocyte subpopulations. However, what has largely been lacking until recently is information on how thymocytes navigate in real time through distinct zones of the thymus. New work by Le Borgne et al. provides insight into how thymocytes move in the medulla and how their motility is affected by the presence of a negatively selecting self antigen2.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Linking the topology and timing of T cell development with thymocyte motility.

References

  1. Petrie, H.T. & Zuniga-Pflucker, J.C. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 25, 649–679 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Le Borgne, M. et al. Nat. Immunol. 10, 823–830 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kyewski, B. & Klein, L. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 24, 571–606 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Li, J., Park, J., Foss, D. & Goldschneider, I. J. Exp. Med. 206, 607–622 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Proietto, A.I. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 19869–19874 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wirnsberger, G., Mair, F. & Klein, L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106, 10278–10283 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Derbinski, J., Pinto, S., Rosch, S., Hexel, K. & Kyewski, B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 657–662 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Venanzi, E.S., Melamed, R., Mathis, D. & Benoist, C. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 15860–15865 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Gallegos, A.M. & Bevan, M.J. J. Exp. Med. 200, 1039–1049 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Koble, C. & Kyewski, B. J. Exp. Med. published online, doi:10.1084/jem.20082449 (29 June 2009).

  11. Witt, C.M., Raychaudhuri, S., Schaefer, B., Chakraborty, A.K. & Robey, E.A. PLoS Biol. 3, e160 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Miller, M.J., Hejazi, A.S., Wei, S.H., Cahalan, M.D. & Parker, I. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 998–1003 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Rodewald, H.R., Paul, S., Haller, C., Bluethmann, H. & Blum, C. Nature 414, 763–768 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bautista, J.L. et al. Nat. Immunol. 10, 610–617 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ludger Klein is with the Institute for Immunology, Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, Germany. ludger.klein@med.lmu.de,

    Ludger Klein

Authors
  1. Ludger Klein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Klein, L. Dead man walking: how thymocytes scan the medulla. Nat Immunol 10, 809–811 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0809-809

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0809-809

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing