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Updated: Apr 10, 2026

Isolation of Double Negative αβ T Cells from the Kidney
Published on: May 16, 2014
New role for the (pro)renin receptor in T-cell development
Sabrina Geisberger1, Ulrike Maschke1, Matthias Gebhardt1
1Experimental and Clinical Research Center, an institutional cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany; Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany;
Abstract:
The (pro)renin receptor (PRR) was originally thought to be important for regulating blood pressure via the renin-angiotensin system. However, it is now emerging that PRR has instead a generic role in cellular development. Here, we have specifically deleted PRR from T cells. T-cell-specific PRR-knockout mice had a significant decrease in thymic cellularity, corresponding with a 100-fold decrease in the number of CD4(+) and CD8(+) thymocytes, and a large increase in double-negative (DN) precursors. Gene expression analysis on sorted DN3 thymocytes indicated that PRR-deficient thymocytes have perturbations in key cellular pathways essential at the DN3 stage, including transcription and translation. Further characterization of DN T-cell progenitors leads us to propose that PRR deletion affects thymocyte survival and development at multiple stages; from DN3 through to DN4, double-positive, and single-positive CD4 and CD8. Our study thus identifies a new role for PRR in T-cell development.
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