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Updated: May 28, 2026

Mouse Naïve CD4+ T Cell Isolation and In vitro Differentiation into T Cell Subsets
Published on: April 16, 2015
Maintaining CD4-CD8 lineage integrity in T cells: where plasticity serves versatility
Lie Wang1, Yumei Xiong, Rémy Bosselut
1Laboratory of Immune Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research (CCR), NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892-4259, USA.
The divergence of the two αβ T cell subsets defined by the mutually exclusive expression of CD4 and CD8 glycoproteins is an important event during the intrathymic differentiation of T lymphocytes. This reviews briefly summarizes the mechanisms that promote commitment to the CD4 or CD8 lineage in the thymus, and discusses the transcription factor circuits and epigenetic mechanisms that concur to maintain lineage integrity in post-thymic cells and yet allow effector cell differentiation.
The divergence of the two αβ T cell subsets defined by the mutually exclusive expression of CD4 and CD8 glycoproteins is an important event during the intrathymic differentiation of T lymphocytes. This reviews briefly summarizes the mechanisms that promote commitment to the CD4 or CD8 lineage in the thymus, and discusses the transcription factor circuits and epigenetic mechanisms that concur to maintain lineage integrity in post-thymic cells and yet allow effector cell differentiation.
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