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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Intravital Imaging of Intraepithelial Lymphocytes in Murine Small Intestine
08:00

Intravital Imaging of Intraepithelial Lymphocytes in Murine Small Intestine

Published on: June 24, 2019

The thymus chapter in the life of gut-specific intra epithelial lymphocytes

Hilde Cheroutre1, Florence Lambolez

  • 1Division of Developmental Immunology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9240 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. hilde@liai.org

Current Opinion in Immunology
|May 6, 2008
PubMed

The intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) represent multi-lineage T cell populations. In addition to a major gammadeltaTCR(+) T cell subset, many IEL express alphabetaTCRs and they can be separated into alphabeta sublineages. Some TCRalphabeta(+)IEL have characteristics in common with conventional TCRalphabeta(+)T cells whereas others share an unconventional phenotype with their TCRgammadelta(+) counterparts. Because the latter are enriched for autoreactive TCRs and can be generated in the absence of a thymus, it has long been postulated that some IEL subsets develop locally in the intestine. Several new data however, indicate that under physiological conditions, IEL require a thymic education that directs lineage commitment and functional differentiation. This review will discuss the contributions of the thymus in shaping the various intestinal IEL sublineages.

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