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Full-Text Articles in Immunology and Infectious Disease
Preventing Thymus Involution In K5.Cyclin D1 Transgenic Mice Sustains The Naïve T Cell Compartment With Age, Michelle L. Bolner
Preventing Thymus Involution In K5.Cyclin D1 Transgenic Mice Sustains The Naïve T Cell Compartment With Age, Michelle L. Bolner
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
The thymus maintains T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire diversity through perpetual release of self-MHC restricted naive T cells. However, thymus involution during the aging process reduces naïve T cell output, leading to defective immune responsiveness to newly encountered antigens. We have found that early thymus involution precipitates the age-associated shift favoring memory T cell dominancy in young control mice. Furthermore, we have shown that age-related thymus involution is prevented in mice expressing a keratin 5 promoter-driven Cyclin D1 (K5.D1) transgene in thymic epithelial cells (TECs). Thymopoiesis occurs normally in K5.D1 transgenic thymi and sustains T cell output to prevent the …