Elevated T cell receptor signaling identifies a thymic precursor to the TCRαß(+)CD4(-)CD8ß(-) intraepithelial lymphocyte lineage.

ABSTRACT

The origin and developmental pathway of intestinal T cell receptor αß(+) CD4(-)CD8ß(-) intraepithelial lymphocytes (unconventional iIELs), a major population of innate-like resident cytolytic T cells, have remained elusive. By cloning and expressing several TCRs isolated from unconventional iIELs, we identified immature CD4(lo)CD8(lo)(DP(lo))CD69(hi)PD-1(hi) thymocytes as the earliest postsignaling precursors for these cells. Although these precursors displayed multiple signs of elevated TCR signaling, a sizeable fraction of them escaped deletion to selectively engage in unconventional iIEL differentiation. Conversely, TCRs cloned from DP(lo)CD69(hi)PD-1(hi) thymocytes, a population enriched in autoreactive thymocytes, selectively gave rise to unconventional iIELs upon transgenic expression. Thus, the unconventional iIEL precursor overlaps with the DP(lo) population undergoing negative selection, indicating that, concomitant with the downregulation of both CD4 and CD8 coreceptors, a balance between apoptosis and survival signals results in outcomes as divergent as clonal deletion and differentiation to the unconventional iIEL lineage.