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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Examination of Thymic Positive and Negative Selection by Flow Cytometry
Published on: October 8, 2012
PKCtheta is necessary for efficient activation of NFkappaB, NFAT, and AP-1 during positive selection of thymocytes
Thomas Gruber1, Christa Pfeifhofer-Obermair, Gottfried Baier
1Department of Medical Genetics, Clinical and Molecular Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Schöpfstrasse 41, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. thomas.gruber@i-med.ac.at
Abstract:
While it has been shown in several publications that the serine-threonine kinase PKCtheta is required for efficient activation of mature T lymphocytes, the role of PKCtheta in T cell development in the thymus is somewhat controversial. In this study, using knockout mice, we show that PKCtheta is important in positive selection. The thymus of PKCtheta(-/-) animals contains significantly less mature single positive T cells compared to wild-type controls. Biochemically, PKCtheta deficient thymocytes show defective activation of the transcription factors AP-1, NFAT and NFkappaB as well as impaired phosphorylation of the MAP kinase ERK after T cell receptor stimulation in vitro. Together, these results reveal a crucial role of PKCtheta in positive selection of thymocytes in a pathway leading to the activation of ERK, AP-1, NFAT, and NFkappaB.
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