An essential role for c-FLIP in the efficient development of mature T lymphocytes.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Apoptosis-related genes play important roles in thymocyte maturation. We show that cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein (c-FLIP), a procaspase-8-like apoptotic regulator, plays an essential role in the efficient development of mature T lymphocytes. Mice conditionally lacking c-FLIP in T lymphocytes display severe defects in the development of mature T cells, as indicated by a dramatically reduced number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the spleen and lymph nodes of mutant mice. The impaired T lymphocyte maturation in c-FLIP conditional knockout mice occurs at the single-positive thymocyte stage and may be caused by enhanced apoptosis in vivo. Moreover, although c-FLIP has been implicated in T cell receptor signaling through nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and Erk pathways, activation of NF-kappaB and Erk in c-FLIP-deficient thymocytes appears largely intact. Collectively, our data suggest that the primary role of c-FLIP in thymocyte maturation is to protect cells from apoptosis.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Zhang, N; He, Y-W
Published Date
- August 1, 2005
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 202 / 3
Start / End Page
- 395 - 404
PubMed ID
- 16043517
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC2213074
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0022-1007
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1084/jem.20050117
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States