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Science 9 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5681, pp. 248 - 251
DOI: 10.1126/science.1096472
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Reports

Thymic Origin of Intestinal {alpha}ß T Cells Revealed by Fate Mapping of ROR{gamma}t+ Cells

Gérard Eberl1*{dagger} and Dan R. Littman1,2{dagger}

Intestinal intraepithelial T lymphocytes (IELs) are likely to play a key role in host mucosal immunity and, unlike other T cells, have been proposed to differentiate from local precursors rather than from thymocytes. We show here that IELs expressingthe {alpha}ß T cell receptor are derived from precursors that express ROR{gamma}t, an orphan nuclear hormone receptor detected only in immature CD4+CD8+ thymocytes, fetal lymphoid tissue–inducer (LTi) cells, and LTi-like cells in cryptopatches within the adult intestinal lamina propria. Using cell fate mapping, we found that all intestinal {alpha}ß T cells are progeny of CD4+CD8+ thymocytes, indicatingthat the adult intestine is not a significant site for {alpha}ß T cell development. Our results suggest that intestinal ROR{gamma}t+ cells are local organizers of mucosal lymphoid tissue.

1 Molecular Pathogenesis Program, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
2 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.


* Present address: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10016, USA.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: geberl{at}adarc.org (G.E.); littman{at}saturn.med.nyu.edu (D.R.L.)

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)