Development and function of conventional and innate T cells

研究调节常规和先天性T细胞发育、维持和老化的转录因子。 转录因子T细胞因子TCF-1和β-连环蛋白调节NKT细胞的发育和分化为NKT 1、NKT 2和NKT 17亚群。TCF 1是所有NKT细胞产生所必需的，因为TCF 1的缺失减少了NKT细胞的数量。NKT细胞发育的减少是由于前体胸腺细胞的寿命减少和NKT细胞产生和选择所需的T细胞受体TCR Val 14-J α 18远端基因的重排和表达减少。β-连环蛋白与TCF 1结合是NKT 2细胞分化所必需的，NKT 2细胞优先产生IL-4和IL-13。NKT 2细胞参与引起哮喘，因此，T细胞中β-连环蛋白表达增强的小鼠促进转基因小鼠中的IL-25依赖性哮喘。正在进行的工作集中在参与这些事件的分子机制。 随着TCR γ-δ T细胞在胸腺中成熟，TCF 1的表达下降。然而，由于TCF 1在胸腺细胞中的诱导被证明是Notch 1信号的下游，并且由于Notch 1对于γ-δ T细胞发育不是必需的，这提出了TCF 1在这些细胞中调节的问题。正在进行的工作表明，TCF 1的表达可能是由γ-δ T细胞中的E蛋白调节的。正在进行的工作将集中在了解γ-δ T细胞中TCF 1的E蛋白依赖性调节。 最后，一个主要的努力是致力于研究转录因子调节TCF 7的表达。

Study of transcription factors that regulate the development, maintenance and aging of conventional and innate T cells. Transcription factors T Cell Factor TCF-1 and beta-catenin regulate the development of NKT cells and differentiation into NKT1, NKT2 and NKT17 subsets. TCF1 is required for the generation of all NKT cells, as deletion of TCF1 reduces the number to NKT cells. Reduction in the development of NKT cells results from reduced lifetime of precursor thymocytes and reduced rearrangement and expression of T cell receptor TCR Valpha14-Jalpha18 distal genes that are required for NKT cell generation and selection. Beta-catenin in conjunction with TCF1 is required for differentiation of NKT2 cells that preferentially produce IL-4 and IL-13. NKT2 cells are implicated in causing asthma, and accordingly, mice with enhanced expression of beta-catenin in T cells promote IL-25-dependent asthma in transgenic mice. Ongoing work focuses on molecular mechanisms involved in these events. Expression of TCF1 declines as TCR gamma-delta T cells mature in the thymus. However, as induction of TCF1 in thymocytes was shown to be down-stream of Notch1 signals and, since Notch1 is not essential for gamma-delta T cell development, this raised the question of TCF1 regulation in these cells. Ongoing work indicates that TCF1 expression maybe regulated by E-proteins in gamma-delta T cells. Ongoing work will focus on understanding E-protein dependent regulation of TCF1 in gamma-delta T cells. Finally, a major effort is devoted to studying transcription factors that regulate expression of TCF7..