To be gammadelta or not to be gammadelta? Signaling pathways in alphabeta versus gammadelta T cell maturation

Julia K Archbold1

  • 1Protein Crystallography Unit, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. julia.archbold@med.monash.edu.au

Science Signaling
|December 10, 2009
PubMed

Maturation of T cells in the thymus involves input from a number of signaling pathways; their combined input determines whether thymic precursor cells will differentiate into mature alphabeta or gammadelta T cells. This Journal Club article highlights recent research showing that the role of Notch signaling in human T cell maturation differs from that in mice. In mice, reducing Notch gene dosage in vivo promotes gammadelta T cell differentiation. In humans, an increase in Notch activity early in development will trigger gammadelta T cell development. This research emphasizes how the molecular events controlling T cell development are fundamentally different in humans and mice.

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