The bHLH gene Hes1 is essential for expansion of early T cell precursors

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Updated: Oct 22, 2026

Direct Induction of Hemogenic Endothelium and Blood by Overexpression of Transcription Factors in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
08:14

Direct Induction of Hemogenic Endothelium and Blood by Overexpression of Transcription Factors in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Published on: December 3, 2015

K Tomita1, M Hattori, E Nakamura

  • 1Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.

Genes & Development
|May 14, 1999
PubMed

Mice mutant for the bHLH gene Hes1, which is known to keep cells in a proliferative state, mostly lack thymus. Transfer of Hes1-null fetal liver cells into RAG2-null host mice normally reconstitutes B cells but fails to generate mature T cells in the thymus. In the reconstituted thymus, T cell differentiation is arrested at the CD4(-)CD8(-) double negative (DN) stage. Both the initial T cell receptor (TCR)-independent and the subsequent TCR-dependent selective expansion during the DN stage are severely affected. Thus, Hes1 is essential for the earliest thymocyte expansion in a cell-autonomous manner.

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