• Login
    View Item 
    •   UMB Digital Archive
    • School, Graduate
    • Theses and Dissertations All Schools
    • View Item
    •   UMB Digital Archive
    • School, Graduate
    • Theses and Dissertations All Schools
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of UMB Digital ArchiveCommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    The expression, regulation and function of proapoptotic molecules produced by thymic epithelial cells

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Find Full text
    Author
    Lalor, Declan Joseph
    Advisor
    Hayashi, Jun
    Date
    2001
    Type
    dissertation
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Immature T cells, known as thymocytes develop in the thymus. During this process thymocytes rearrange and express a T cell receptor (TCR). TCR expression is a partly random process. Although this contributes to generating diversity, it also generates TCRs that are non-functional or that could illicit autoimmune disease. Therefore a stringent thymocyte developmental process ensures that only those thymocytes bearing a potentially useful TCR mature. During this developmental process 95-99% of thymocytes die. How these thymocytes are induced to die is not understood but is fundamentally important in elucidating thymocyte development. The thymic micro environment facilitates thymocyte death. This microenvironment is created by the different cells that are present. The thymus is cellularly heterogenous with thymic epithelial cells (TECs) being the predominant population. To further characterize how TECs contribute to the thymic micro environment this laboratory previously established the rat and mouse functional TEC lines TEA3A1 and BT1B, respectively. Using these cell lines this thesis examines the expression, regulation and role of factors that have been hypothesized as having a role in thymocyte death. Initially the regulation of prostaglandin E2(PGE2) was examined. It was found that PGE2 production is stimulated by ATP and synergistically stimulated by TGF-alpha and ATP. As the nervous system is a potential source of ATP this data provides a mechanism for neuronal control of thymocyte development. Secondly the expression of proapoptotic Fas ligand was characterized. Moreover evidence is provided that the role of Fas ligand in negative selection is related to its subcellular localization. Thirdly we provide evidence that one of the functions of glucocorticoids in the thymus is to maintain the viability of TECs. Furthermore preliminary evidence is provided that these cells can produce corticosterone similar to TECs in vivo and therefore may provide a useful model for characterizing the regulation of glucocorticoid synthesis by TECs. Therefore this thesis provides a synthesis of how three factors hypothesized as being involved in thymocyte development may contribute to the thymic microenvironment. Firstly by examining the expression of PGE2. Secondly by characterizing the expression of Fas ligand and thirdly by showing that glucocorticoids are important in maintaining epithelial cell viability.
    Description
    University of Maryland, Baltimore. Pharmaceutical Sciences. Ph.D. 2001
    Keyword
    Health Sciences, Immunology
    Apoptosis
    Thymocytes
    Identifier to cite or link to this item
    http://hdl.handle.net/10713/1199
    Collections
    Theses and Dissertations School of Pharmacy
    Theses and Dissertations All Schools

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Policies | Contact Us | UMB Health Sciences & Human Services Library
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.