Abstract
Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by a number of immunological disorders. Numerous animal models of colitis have revealed aberrant thymocyte dynamics associated with skewed thymocyte development. The recent advancements in quantitative methods have proposed critical kinetic alterations in the thymocyte development during progression of colitis. This review focuses on the aberrant thymocyte dynamics in Gαi2 deficient mice since this mouse model provides the most quantitative data of the thymocyte development associated to colitis. Herein, we discuss several dynamic changes during the progression of colitis and propose a hypothesis for the underlying causes for the skewed proportions of the thymocyte populations seen in the Gαi2 deficient mice as well as other mouse models of colitis.
Authors and Affiliations
- A. Jansson, University of Skövde
- A.-K. Pernestig, University of Skövde
- P. Nilsson, University of Skövde
- M. Jirstrand, Fraunhofer-Chalmers Centre
- E. Hultgren-Hörnquist, Örebro University