Immunology
Eph affects T cell function
By Pankaj, US correspondent
Dec 16, 2004, 17:46

The erythropoietin-producing hepatocyte (Eph) kinases are the largest family of receptor tyrosine kinases in the immune system. The Eph kinases and their ligands are known to direct neural outgrowth, the growth of new blood vessels, and epithelial cell migration in the intestine. In the December 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Jiangping Wu and colleagues from Notre Dame Hospital, Montreal, now delve further into the role of Eph kinases in the immune system by showing that EphB6 modulates immune function.

The authors demonstrated that mice genetically deficient for EphB6 have compromised T cell responses. On the other hand, immune responses mediated by antibodies were normal in the mutant mice. This study is the first to describe roles for an Eph kinase in in vivo immunological function and the data suggest that EphB6 is important for T cell�T cell cooperation during T cell activation.



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