Characterization of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis in the Human Thymus

[en] The components of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis have been investigated in the normal human thymus. Using ribonuclease protection assays (RPA), IGF-II transcripts were detected in the normal human thymus. By reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses, promoters P3 and P4 were found to be active in the transcription of IGF2 gene within human thymic epithelial cells (TEC). No IGF-II mRNA could be detected in human lymphoid Jurkat T cells with 30 cycles of RT-PCR. By Northern blot analyses, IGFBP-2 to -6 (but not IGFBP-1) were found to be expressed in TEC with a predominance of IGFBP-4. Interestingly, Jurkat T cells only express IGFBP-2 but at high levels. The type 1 IGF receptor was detected in Jurkat T cells but not in human TEC. The identification of the components of the IGF axis within separate compartments of the human thymus adds further evidence for a role of this axis in the control of T-cell development. The precise influence of thymic IGF axis upon T-cell differentiation and immunological self-tolerance however needs to be further investigated.

Disciplines :

Immunology & infectious disease
Biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology

Author, co-author :

Kecha, Ouafae

Martens, Henri ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques > Embryologie

Franchimont, Nathalie

Achour, Imane

Hazee-Hagelstein, Marie-Thérèse

Charlet-Renard, Chantal

Geenen, Vincent ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Centre d'immunologie

Winkler, Rose ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques > Anatomie et cytologie pathologiques

Language :

English

Title :

Characterization of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor Axis in the Human Thymus

Publication date :

June 1999

Journal title :

Journal of Neuroendocrinology

ISSN :

0953-8194

eISSN :

1365-2826

Publisher :

Wiley, Malden, United States - Massachusetts

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

435-40

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 25 October 2009

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