Disruption of epithelial gamma delta T cell repertoires by mutation of the Syk tyrosine kinase

Chimeric mice in which lymphocytes are deficient in the Syk tyrosine kinase have been created. Compared with Syk-positive controls, mice with Syk -/- lymphocytes display substantial depletion of intraepithelial [Gamma][Delta] T cells in the skin and gut, with developmental arrest occurring after antigen receptor gene rearrangement. In this dependence on Syk, subsets of intraepithelial [Gamma][Delta] T cells are similar to B cells, but distinct from splenic [Gamma][Delta] T cells that develop and expand in Syk-deficient mice. The characteristic associations of certain T-cell receptor V[Gamma]/V[Delta] gene rearrangements with specific epithelia are also disrupted by Syk deficiency.