Duration and Strength of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signals Are Altered During Positive Versus Negative Thymocyte Selection
During thymocyte development, high-affinity/avidity TCR engagement leads to the induction of negative selection and apoptosis, while lower TCR affinity-avidity interactions lead to positive selection and survival. To elucidate how these extracellular interactions are translated into intracellular si...
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Published in | The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 167; no. 9; pp. 4966 - 4973 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Am Assoc Immnol
01.11.2001
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | During thymocyte development, high-affinity/avidity TCR engagement leads to the induction of negative selection and apoptosis, while lower TCR affinity-avidity interactions lead to positive selection and survival. To elucidate how these extracellular interactions are translated into intracellular signals that distinguish between positive and negative selection, we developed a culture system in which naive double-positive thymocytes were either induced to differentiate along the CD8(+) lineage pathway or were triggered for clonal deletion. Using this system, we show that sustained low level activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) promotes positive selection, whereas strong but transient ERK activation is coupled with negatively selecting stimuli. Importantly, similar ERK activation profiles were demonstrated during positive selection for strong agonist ligands presented at low concentrations or weak agonist ligands. This is consistent with the affinity/avidity model and a role for strong or weak agonists during positive selection. Surprisingly, the addition of a pharmacological inhibitor which blocks ERK activation prevented the induction of negative selection. These data suggest that the duration and strength of the TCR signal is involved in discriminating between positive and negative selection. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0022-1767 1550-6606 |
DOI: | 10.4049/jimmunol.167.9.4966 |