Research progress of Notch signaling pathway and thymic development and regeneration

The thymus represents a crucial central lymphoid organ in which bone marrow-derived lymphoid progenitor cells undergo positive and negative selection and maturate into T cells.The Notch pathway is a highly conserved signaling transduction system that mediates cell-cell communication and regulates multiple fundamental cellular processes.Previous studies have reported that the Notch pathway plays a pivotal role to the maintain thymic environment and to support T cell development.Therefore, investigating the role of Notch pathway in thymic development is a prerequisite to completely understand the pathophysiology of age-related thymic involution and is of significance to improve immunological function and quality of life for aging individuals. Key words: Notch signaling pathway; Thymus development; Thymus regeneration; T cells