Thymic B cells and central T cell tolerance

Frontiers in Immunology

Ludger eKlein¹  Madlen eSteinert¹  Tomoyoshi eYamano¹ 

[1] Ludwig-Maximilians-University;

关键词: Antigen Presentation;    Central Tolerance;    Germinal Center;    B cells;    AIRE;    CD40;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2015.00376

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Central T cell tolerance is believed to be mainly induced by thymic dendritic cells and medullary thymic epithelial cells. The thymus also harbors substantial numbers of B cells. These may arise though intrathymic B lymphopoiesis or immigration from the bloodstream. Importantly, and in contrast to resting ‘mainstream’ B cells in the periphery, thymic B cells display elevated levels of MHC class II and constitutively express CD80. Arguably their most unexpected feature is the expression of Aire. These unique features of thymic B cells result from a licensing process that involves cross-talk with CD4 single-positive T cells and CD40 signaling. Together, these recent findings suggest that B cells play a more prominent role as thymic APCs than previously appreciated.

【 授权许可】

Unknown