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Preparation of Single-Cell Suspension of Mouse Thymic Epithelial Cells and Staining of Intracellular Molecules for Flow Cytometric Analysis
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Preparation of Single-Cell Suspension of Mouse Thymic Epithelial Cells and Staining of Intracellular Molecules for Flow Cytometric Analysis

Published on: July 26, 2024

Autonomous role of medullary thymic epithelial cells in central CD4(+) T cell tolerance

Maria Hinterberger1, Martin Aichinger, Olivia Prazeres da Costa

  • 1Institute for Immunology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany.

Nature Immunology
|May 1, 2010
PubMed

Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) serve an essential function in central tolerance by expressing peripheral-tissue antigens. These antigens may be transferred to and presented by dendritic cells (DCs). Therefore, it is unclear whether mTECs, in addition to being an antigen reservoir, also serve a mandatory function as antigen-presenting cells. Here we diminished major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II on mTECs through transgenic expression of a 'designer' microRNA specific for the MHC class II transactivator CIITA (called 'C2TA' here). This resulted in an enlarged polyclonal CD4(+) single-positive compartment and, among thymocytes specific for model antigens expressed in mTECs, enhanced selection of regulatory T cells (T(reg) cells) at the expense of deletion. Our data document an autonomous contribution of mTECs to both dominant and recessive mechanisms of CD4(+) T cell tolerance and support an avidity model of T(reg) cell development versus deletion.

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