Response to comment on "cathepsin-L influences the expression of extracellular matrix in lymphoid organs and plays a role in the regulation of thymic output and of peripheral T cell number

LOMBARDI G, BURZYN D, MUNDINANO J, BERGUER P, COSTA H, GOLDMAN A, PIAZZON I, NEPOMNASCHY I

JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY

Año: 2006 vol. 176 p. 5135 - 5136

0022-1767

In our article published in The Journal of Immunology in June 1, 2005 (1), we reported that lymph nodes from nackt mice (CTSLnkt/CTSLnkt) are hypertrophied, showing a normal absolute number of CD4+ T cells and a marked increase in the number of CD8+ T lymphocytes. Correlatively, extracellular matrix (ECM) components were found to be increased. Contrarily, in nackt thymus, laminin, fibronectin, and collagen I and IV are markedly decreased, with an augmented output of CD8+ cells. We also reported that a mutated form of cathepsin L can be detected in different organs in nackt mice. These results demonstrate that the nackt mutation in the Ctsl gene influences the levels of ECM components in lymphoid organs, the thymic output, and the number of T cells in the periphery, thus broadly affecting the immune system.