
Publication: Thymus-specific serine protease regulates positive selection of a subset of CD4+ thymocytes.
Publié dans: European Journal of Immunology, 2009, 39 (4), pp.956-64. ⟨10.1002/eji.200839175⟩
Auteurs: Julien Gommeaux, Claude Grégoire, Prudence Nguessan, Mireille Richelme, Marie Malissen, Sylvie Guerder, Bernard Malissen, Alice Carrier
Résumé
Thymus-specific serine protease (TSSP) was initially reported as a putative protease specifically expressed in the endosomal compartment of cortical thymic epithelial cells (cTEC). As such, TSSP is potentially involved in the presentation of the self-peptides that are bound to MHC class II molecules expressed at the cTEC surface and are involved in the positive selection of CD4(+) thymocytes. We tested this hypothesis by generating mutant mice deprived of Prss16, the gene encoding TSSP. TSSP-deficient mice produced normal numbers of T cells, despite a decrease in the percentage of cTEC expressing high surface levels of MHC class II. By using sensitive transgenic models expressing MHC class II-restricted TCR transgenes (Marilyn and OT-II), we showed that the absence of TSSP markedly impaired the selection of Marilyn and OT-II CD4(+) T cells. In contrast, selection of CD8(+) T cells expressing an MHC class I-restricted TCR transgene (OT-I) was unaffected. Therefore, TSSP is involved in the positive selection of some CD4(+) T lymphocytes and likely constitutes the first serine protease to play a function in the intrathymic presentation of self-peptides bound to MHC class II complexes.
Lien vers HAL – hal-00408418
Lien vers le DOI – 10.1002/eji.200839175