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International Immunology Advance Access originally published online on August 26, 2009
International Immunology 2009 21(10):1163-1174; doi:10.1093/intimm/dxp083
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Society for Immunology 2009.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Amyloid precursor family proteins are expressed by thymic and lymph node stromal cells but are not required for lymphocyte development

Karen Laky1, Willem Annaert2 and B. J. Fowlkes1

1 Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Building 4, Room 111, Bethesda, MD 20892-0420, USA
2 Laboratory for Membrane Trafficking, Center for Human Genetics (KULeuven and VIB), Gasthuisberg, O&N1, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium

Correspondence to: B. J. Fowlkes; E-mail: bfowlkes{at}nih.gov

Pharmacological inhibitors that block amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage and the formation of senile plaques are under development for the treatment of familial Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, many inhibitors that block {gamma}-secretase-mediated cleavage of APP also have immunosuppressive side effects. In addition to APP, numerous other proteins undergo {gamma}-secretase-mediated cleavage. In order to develop safer inhibitors, it is necessary to determine which of the {gamma}-secretase substrates contribute to the immunosuppressive effects. Because APP family members are widely expressed and are reported to influence calcium flux, transcription and apoptosis, they could be important for normal lymphocyte maturation. We find that APP and amyloid precursor-like protein 2 are expressed by stromal cells of thymus and lymph nodes, but not by lymphocytes. Although signals provided by thymic stromal cells are critical for normal T cell differentiation, lymphocyte development proceeds unperturbed in mice deficient for these APP family members.

Keywords: APP-deficient mice, APLP2-deficient mice, T cells, thymocytes, {gamma}-secretase

Transmitting editor: Stephen M. Hedrick

Received 10 February 2009, accepted 24 July 2009.


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