PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Semaphorin 3F and neuropilin-2 control the migration of human T-cell precursors.

  • Daniella Arêas Mendes-da-Cruz,
  • Anne Colette Brignier,
  • Vahid Asnafi,
  • Frederic Baleydier,
  • Carolina Valença Messias,
  • Yves Lepelletier,
  • Nawel Bedjaoui,
  • Amedée Renand,
  • Salete Smaniotto,
  • Danielle Canioni,
  • Pierre Milpied,
  • Karl Balabanian,
  • Philippe Bousso,
  • Stéphane Leprêtre,
  • Yves Bertrand,
  • Hervé Dombret,
  • Norbert Ifrah,
  • Mireille Dardenne,
  • Elizabeth Macintyre,
  • Wilson Savino,
  • Olivier Hermine

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103405
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 7
p. e103405

Abstract

Read online

Neuropilins and semaphorins are known as modulators of axon guidance, angiogenesis, and organogenesis in the developing nervous system, but have been recently evidenced as also playing a role in the immune system. Here we describe the expression and role of semaphorin 3F (SEMA3F) and its receptor neuropilin-2 (NRP2) in human T cell precursors. NRP2 and SEMA3F are expressed in the human thymus, in both lymphoid and non-lymphoid compartments. SEMA3F have a repulsive effect on thymocyte migration and inhibited CXCL12- and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)-induced thymocyte migration by inhibiting cytoskeleton reorganization prior to stimuli. Moreover, NRP2 and SEMA3F are expressed in human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma primary cells. In these tumor cells, SEMA3F also blocks their migration induced by CXCL12 and S1P. Our data show that SEMA3F and NRP2 are further regulators of human thymocyte migration in physiological and pathological conditions.