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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Mouse Naïve CD4+ T Cell Isolation and In vitro Differentiation into T Cell Subsets
Published on: April 16, 2015
Dendritic cells in the thymus contribute to T-regulatory cell induction
Anna I Proietto1, Serani van Dommelen, Penghui Zhou
1The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia. proietto@wehi.edu.au
Abstract:
Central tolerance is established through negative selection of self-reactive thymocytes and the induction of T-regulatory cells (T(R)s). The role of thymic dendritic cells (TDCs) in these processes has not been clearly determined. In this study, we demonstrate that in vivo, TDCs not only play a role in negative selection but in the induction of T(R)s. TDCs include two conventional dendritic cell (DC) subtypes, CD8(lo)Sirpalpha(hi/+) (CD8(lo)Sirpalpha(+)) and CD8(hi)Sirpalpha(lo/-) (CD8(hi)Sirpalpha(-)) [corrected] which have different origins. We found that the CD8(hi)Sirpalpha(+) DCs represent a conventional DC subset that originates from the blood and migrates into the thymus. Moreover, we show that the CD8(lo)Sirpalpha(+) DCs demonstrate a superior capacity to induce T(R)s in vitro. Finally, using a thymic transplantation system, we demonstrate that the DCs in the periphery can migrate into the thymus, where they efficiently induce T(R) generation and negative selection.
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