Genetic regulation of the thymus function identified

Discussion in 'Biology & Genetics' started by Plazma Inferno!, Aug 23, 2016.

  1. Plazma Inferno! Ding Ding Ding Ding Administrator

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    Like all vertebrate animals, humans use T cells in immune defense in order to protect the body against infections and malignant cells. Immune cells mature in the thymus, an organ located between the sternum and heart, during the embryonic stage, but they reach full functionality only when they interact with thymus epithelial cells – the teachers of the T cell, so to speak. The thymus begins to age from the second year of life.
    More than 20 years ago, researchers discovered that the protein Foxn1 plays an important role in the development and differentiation of thymic epithelial cells. But it remained unclear which target genes controlled by Foxn1 were responsible for the formation and functions of the specialized epithelial cells. It was also unclear what Foxn1 actually did after development of the thymus in the embryo.
    Researchers at the universities of Basel and Oxford have for the first time identified all genes regulated by the protein Foxn1. The results show that Foxn1 not only plays a crucial role in development of the thymus in the embryo, but it also regulates vital functions in the developed, postnatal organ. The decryption of the protein’s functions is important in the understanding and treatment of autoimmune diseases, vaccination responses in old age and defense against tumor cells.

    https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Event...lation-of-the-Thymus-Function-Identified.html
     

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