Abstract
Mutation or ablation of T cell factor 1 and lymphocyte enhancer factor 1 indicated involvement of the Wnt pathway in thymocyte development. The central effector of the Wnt pathway is beta-catenin, which undergoes stabilization upon binding of Wnt ligands to frizzled receptors. We report here that conditional stabilization of beta-catenin in immature thymocytes resulted in the generation of single positive T cells that lacked the alpha beta TCR and developed in the absence of pre-TCR signaling and TCR selection. Although active beta-catenin induced differentiation in the absence of TCRs, its action was associated with reduced proliferation and survival when compared to developmental changes induced by the pre-TCR or the alpha beta TCR.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / analysis
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Apoptosis
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Cell Cycle
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / genetics
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / metabolism
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / physiology*
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Exons
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Flow Cytometry
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Lymphocyte Activation
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Mice
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / physiology*
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / analysis
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Sequence Deletion
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Signal Transduction*
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T-Lymphocytes / chemistry
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T-Lymphocytes / cytology
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T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
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Thymus Gland / immunology*
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Trans-Activators*
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beta Catenin
Substances
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Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte
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CTNNB1 protein, mouse
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Cytoskeletal Proteins
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
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Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta
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Trans-Activators
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beta Catenin