Analysis of the mechanism of the restricted localization of Vγ3 T cells in the epidermis

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Intraepithelial T cells of the murine skin, called dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC), express exclusively an invariant (Vγ3-Jγ1/Vδ1-Dδ2-Jδ2)γδ TCR. Fetal thymic precursors of DETC immigrate to the skin before birth, and in adult mice T cells expressing the canonical Vγ3 TCR identical to that of DETC are not found in other lymphoid or epithelial tissues. This study showed that DETC precursors migrate to the gut as well as to the skin during fetal periods, but preferentially survive and expand in the skin after birth. Because the ligand for the Vγ3 TCR was expressed only in the skin, "peripheral selection" of the homogeneous epidermal γδ T cell repertoire may be mediated by Vγ3 TCR signaling upon the recognition of the self-ligand.