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CD8+ T cell development: CD4 to the rescue

Nature Immunology volume 2, pages 1091–1092 (2001)Cite this article

How immature CD4+CD8+ thymocytes become committed to either the CD4 (helper) or CD8 (cytotoxic) lineage is controversial. Genetic ablation of a silencer element in the gene encoding CD4 provides new evidence that CD8 lineage commitment occurs via a stochastic, rather than instructive, mechanism.

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Figure 1: Stochastic versus instructive models of CD8 lineage commitment.

Bob Crimi

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne Branch, University of Lausanne, Epalinges, CH-1066, Switzerland

    H. Robson MacDonald & Werner Held

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  1. H. Robson MacDonald
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  2. Werner Held
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MacDonald, H., Held, W. CD8+ T cell development: CD4 to the rescue. Nat Immunol 2, 1091–1092 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1201-1091

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