[Notch ligands Delta and lymphoid development niches].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Emmanuelle Six.
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Here, we identify fetal bone marrow (BM)-derived CD34hiCD45RAhiCD7+ hematopoietic progenitors as thymus-colonizing cells. This population, virtually absent from the fetal liver (FL), emerges in the BM by development weeks 8-9, where it accumulates throughout the second trimester, to finally decline around birth. Based on phenotypic, molecular, and functional criteria, we demonstrate that CD34hiCD45RAhiCD7+ cells represent the direct precursors of the most immature CD34hiCD1a- fetal thymocytes that follow a similar dynamics pattern during fetal and early postnatal development. Histological analysis of fetal thymuses further reveals that early immigrants predominantly localize in the perivascular areas of the cortex, where they form a lymphostromal complex with thymic epithelial cells (TECs) driving their rapid specification toward the T lineage. Finally, using an ex vivo xenogeneic thymus-colonization assay, we show that BM-derived CD34hiCD45RAhiCD7+ progenitors are selectively recruited into the thymus parenchyma in the absence of exogenous cytokines, where they adopt a definitive T cell fate.
The role of Notch signaling in T cell commitment during lymphoid development is well established. However, the identity of the ligand that triggers this critical signal in vivo is still unclear. By overexpressing Delta-1 and Delta-4 ligands in the hemopoietic cells of athymic nu/nu host mice, we demonstrate that, in vivo and in the absence of a thymus, Delta-1 or Delta-4 expression is sufficient to promote T cell development from the most immature progenitor stages to complete maturation of both CD8(+) and CD4(+) alphabeta T cells. The mature T cells developing in a Delta-1- or Delta-4-enriched environment express a diverse TCR repertoire, are able to proliferate upon in vitro TCR stimulation, but show different profiles of cytokine production after in vitro anti-CD3 stimulation.
Activation of mammalian Notch receptor by its ligands induces TNFalpha-converting enzyme-dependent ectodomain shedding, followed by intramembrane proteolysis due to presenilin (PS)-dependent gamma-secretase activity. Here, we demonstrate that a new modification, a monoubiquitination, as well as clathrin-dependent endocytosis, is required for gamma-secretase processing of a constitutively active Notch derivative, DeltaE, which mimics the TNFalpha-converting enzyme-processing product. PS interacts with this modified form of DeltaE, DeltaEu. We identified the lysine residue targeted by the monoubiquitination event and confirmed its importance for activation of Notch receptor by its ligand, Delta-like 1. We propose a new model where monoubiquitination and endocytosis of Notch are a prerequisite for its PS-dependent cleavage, and discuss its relevance for other gamma-secretase substrates.
Notch signaling is involved in numerous cell fate decisions in invertebrates and vertebrates. The Notch receptor is a type I transmembrane (TM) protein that undergoes two proteolytic steps after ligand binding, first by an ADAM (a distintegrin and metalloprotease) in the extracellular region, followed by gamma-secretase-mediated cleavage inside the TM domain. We demonstrate here that the murine ligand Delta1 (Dll1) undergoes the same sequence of cleavages, in an apparently signal-independent manner. Identification of the ADAM-mediated shedding site localized 10 aa N-terminal to the TM domain has enabled us to generate a noncleavable mutant. Kuzbanian/ADAM10 is involved in this processing event, but other proteases can probably substitute for it. We then show that Dll1 is part of a high-molecular-weight complex containing presenilin1 and undergoes further cleavage by a gamma-secretase-like activity, therefore releasing the intracellular domain that localizes in part to the nucleus. Using the shedding-resistant mutant, we demonstrate that this gamma-secretase cleavage depends on prior ectodomain shedding. Therefore Dll1 is a substrate for regulated intramembrane proteolysis, and its intracellular region possibly fulfills a specific function in the nucleus.