Wnt信号通路与胸腺发育.doc

  Wnt 信号通路与胸腺发育# 魏田利，朱喜科** （中国医科大学附属盛京医院实验研究中心，沈阳 110004） 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 摘要：胸腺是人体重要的中枢淋巴器官，是 T 淋巴细胞分化发育的场所。起源于骨髓的淋 巴细胞祖细胞，在胸腺中历经阳性选择和阴性选择后发育为成熟的 T 细胞，然后通过血液 循环参与外周细胞免疫。研究表明，Wnt 信号通路广泛存在于胸腺上皮细胞和 T 细胞，它 不但影响胸腺上皮细胞的形态、功能，而且对于维持 T 细胞前体细胞和后期 T 细胞的分化 都很重要。最近研究发现，Wnt 信号通路参与了胸腺增龄性萎缩过程的调节，Wnt 信号通路 的改变可引起上皮网络结构的改变，最终导致胸腺微环境的破坏。因此，研究 Wnt 信号通 路在胸腺发育中的作用，对于探索胸腺增龄性萎缩的调控机制和改善老年人的健康状况有重 要意义。 关键词：免疫学；胸腺发育；Wnt 信号通路；胸腺增龄性萎缩 中图分类号：R392.2 Wnt signaling pathway and thymic development Wei Tianli, Zhu Xike (Research Center for Medical Science，Shengjing Hosipital of China Medical University， Shenyang, 110004 China) Abstract: IThe thymus represents a central lymphoid organ for T lymphocytes development and maturation. Through negative and positive selection, lymphoid progenitor cells which stem from bone marrow develop into mature T cells in the thymus, and then involve in peripheral cell immunity. It is reported that Wnt signaling pathway exits widely in both thymic epithelia cells and T lymphocytes. It not only affects the shape and function of thymic epithelia cells, but also plays an important role in maintaining the pro-T-cells and subsequent T cells differentiation development. In recent studies, it is found that Wnt signaling pathway also participates in the age-related thymus involution, and the change of Wnt signaling pathway causes destruction of epithelia network structure of thymus , eventually leading to microenvironmental damage of thymus. Therefore, for exploring the regulation mechanism of age-related thymus involution and improving the aged’s health conditions, the studies on the effect of Wnt signaling pathway in the thymus development have important significance. Key words: immunology; thymic development; Wnt signaling pathway; age-related thymus involution 0 引言 胸腺是人体重要的中枢免疫器官，来源于造血器官骨髓的细胞分布其内，在此变成大量 的胸腺细胞（T 细胞前体细胞），并进一步发育成 T 细胞谱系。胸腺中 T 细胞的分化、发 育和 T 细胞受体的重排都是由众多的信号分子所调控。胸腺上皮细胞（TECs）可以分泌各 种细胞因子，通过与 T 细胞上的相应受体结合，促进胸腺细胞的发育；胸腺细胞功能的维 持需要 Notch、BMP 和 Wnt 等信号通路的激活和相互