Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Alerts
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Author's Takes
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Aging (Upcoming)
    • Next-Generation Sequencing in Medicine (Jun 2022)
    • New Therapeutic Targets in Cardiovascular Diseases (Mar 2022)
    • Immunometabolism (Jan 2022)
    • Circadian Rhythm (Oct 2021)
    • Gut-Brain Axis (Jul 2021)
    • Tumor Microenvironment (Mar 2021)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Commentaries
    • Concise Communication
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoint
    • Top read articles
  • Clinical Medicine
  • JCI This Month
    • Current issue
    • Past issues

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Author's Takes
  • In-Press Preview
  • Commentaries
  • Concise Communication
  • Editorials
  • Viewpoint
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Alerts
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Neonatal thymectomy reveals differentiation and plasticity within human naive T cells
Theo van den Broek, … , Nicolaas J.G. Jansen, Femke van Wijk
Theo van den Broek, … , Nicolaas J.G. Jansen, Femke van Wijk
Published February 22, 2016
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2016;126(3):1126-1136. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI84997.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Immunology

Neonatal thymectomy reveals differentiation and plasticity within human naive T cells

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

The generation of naive T cells is dependent on thymic output, but in adults, the naive T cell pool is primarily maintained by peripheral proliferation. Naive T cells have long been regarded as relatively quiescent cells; however, it was recently shown that IL-8 production is a signatory effector function of naive T cells, at least in newborns. How this functional signature relates to naive T cell dynamics and aging is unknown. Using a cohort of children and adolescents who underwent neonatal thymectomy, we demonstrate that the naive CD4+ T cell compartment in healthy humans is functionally heterogeneous and that this functional diversity is lost after neonatal thymectomy. Thymic tissue regeneration later in life resulted in functional restoration of the naive T cell compartment, implicating the thymus as having functional regenerative capacity. Together, these data shed further light on functional differentiation within the naive T cell compartment and the importance of the thymus in human naive T cell homeostasis and premature aging. In addition, these results affect and alter our current understanding on the identification of truly naive T cells and recent thymic emigrants.

Authors

Theo van den Broek, Eveline M. Delemarre, Willemijn J.M. Janssen, Rutger A.J. Nievelstein, Jasper C. Broen, Kiki Tesselaar, Jose A.M. Borghans, Edward E.S. Nieuwenhuis, Berent J. Prakken, Michal Mokry, Nicolaas J.G. Jansen, Femke van Wijk

×

Full Text PDF | Download (1.11 MB)


Copyright © 2022 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts