ArticlePloS one2011
IFN-α is constitutively expressed in the human thymus, but not in peripheral lymphoid organs.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- BST2/Tetherin is constitutively expressed on human thymocytes with the phenotype and function of Treg cells.European journal of immunology · 2015Trial
- Article
- A type I interferon-mitochondrial axis regulates efferocytosis and interferon-stimulated gene induction in macrophages.Immunity · 2026Article
- CD19, immunoglobulin level, and varied anti-cytokine autoantibodies underline dichotomous susceptibility to types of infection in patients with thymomas.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Activation of cGAS-STING signaling in senescent cells promotes the aging process by remodeling the functions of the immune system.Biogerontology · 2025Review
- Impaired Aire-dependent IFN signaling in the thymus precedes the protective autoantibodies to IFNα.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2025Article
- Sterile production of interferons in the thymus.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2025Review
- Thymflammation: The Role of a Constitutively Active Inflammatory Network and "Ectopic" Cell Types in the Thymus in the Induction of T Cell Tolerance and Beyond.Immunological reviews · 2025Review
- Thymic Interferons: A Little Goes a Long Way.Immunological reviews · 2025Review
- Abundance of single filamentous bacteria, and expression of differentiated Th17 cells, their signature cytokine IL-17 A, and retinoic acid receptor are predictive of poor rotavirus vaccine take.Virology journal · 2025Article
- Article
- Expression of salivary hepcidin and its inducer, interleukin 6 as well as type I interferons are significantly elevated in infants with poor oral rotavirus vaccine take in South Africa.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Decoding thymic development: a single-cell atlas of tree shrew immunity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Single-cell atlas of the small intestine throughout the human lifespan demonstrates unique features of fetal immune cells.Mucosal immunology · 2024Article
- Article
- Comparative transcriptome analysis of T lymphocyte subpopulations and identification of critical regulators defining porcine thymocyte identity.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Interferon autoantibodies as signals of a sick thymus.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Preclinical Study in Mouse Thymus and Thymocytes: Effects of Treatment with a Combination of Sodium Dichloroacetate and Sodium Valproate on Infectious Inflammation Pathways.Pharmaceutics · 2023Article
- Defining the identity and the niches of epithelial stem cells with highly pleiotropic multilineage potency in the human thymus.Developmental cell · 2023Article
- HIV-1 Infection Results in Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor 1 Dysregulation in the Human Thymus.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Type I interferons have been typically studied for their effects in the context of bacterial or viral infections. However in this report, we provide evidence that Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) expressing cells are present in the thymus in the absence of infection. We show that pDC express the highest level of IFN-α and that MxA, which is exclusively expressed after engagement of the type I IFN receptor by IFN-α/β, is expressed in normal fetal and post-natal thymus, but not in the periphery. The highest level of MxA is expressed in mature thymocytes and pDC located in the medulla and at the cortico-medullary junction. The anti-microbial peptide LL-37, which is expressed in the thymus, when complexed with eukaryotic nucleic acids, induces the secretion of IFN-α by thymic pDC. This results in the upregulation of MxA expression in responsive thymocytes. We propose that the secretion of IFN-α in the thymus may function to regulate the rate of T cell development and modulate the requirements for the selection of developing T cells.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.