The key role of IL-7 in lymphopoiesis

Rhodri Ceredig1, Antonius G Rolink

  • 1Regenerative Medicine Institute, National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science, and School of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.

Seminars in Immunology
|March 17, 2012
PubMed

In mice, interleukin 7, although initially thought to be predominantly a cytokine acting on B cells, appears to have potent survival and growth activity during both B and T lymphopoiesis. Although acting on both lineages at the very immature stages, T cell differentiation becomes independent of IL-7 at the intermediate stages before regaining dependence on IL-7 for survival and proliferation at the mature T cell stage. In contrast, although essential for B lymphopoiesis, mature B cell survival is independent of IL-7. In this review, we focus on and discuss the similarities and differences between the role of IL-7 in these two processes.

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