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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
On becoming a T cell, a convergence of factors kick it up a Notch along the way
Patrycja K Thompson1, Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker
1Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada.
The thymus is seeded by bone marrow-derived progenitors, which undergo a series of differentiation and proliferation events in order to generate functional T lymphocytes. The Notch signaling pathway, together with multiple transcription factors, act in concert to commit progenitors to a T-lineage fate, extinguishing non-T cell potential, inducing thymocyte differentiation and supporting proliferation and survival along the way to becoming a mature T cell. This review focuses on recent evidence regarding the complex interplay between the Notch pathway and other key transcription factors at specific lineage-decision points during the program of T cell development.
The thymus is seeded by bone marrow-derived progenitors, which undergo a series of differentiation and proliferation events in order to generate functional T lymphocytes. The Notch signaling pathway, together with multiple transcription factors, act in concert to commit progenitors to a T-lineage fate, extinguishing non-T cell potential, inducing thymocyte differentiation and supporting proliferation and survival along the way to becoming a mature T cell. This review focuses on recent evidence regarding the complex interplay between the Notch pathway and other key transcription factors at specific lineage-decision points during the program of T cell development.
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