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TY - JOUR AU - Yokota, Yoshifumi AU - Mansouri, Ahmed AU - Mori, Seiichi AU - Sugawara, Seiichi AU - Adachi, Satoko AU - Nishikawa, Shin-Ichi AU - Gruss, Peter PY - 1999 DA - 1999/02/01 TI - Development of peripheral lymphoid organs and natural killer cells depends on the helix–loop–helix inhibitor Id2 JO - Nature SP - 702 EP - 706 VL - 397 IS - 6721 AB - Transcription factors with a basic helix–loop–helix (HLH) motif have been shown to be crucial for various cell differentiation processes during development of multicellular organisms1. Id proteins inhibit the functions of these transcription factors in a dominant-negative manner by suppressing their heterodimerization partners through the HLH domains2,3,4. Members of the Id family also promote cell proliferation4,5, implying a role in the control of cell differentiation. Here we show that Id2 is indispensable for normal development of mice. Id2−/− mice lack lymph nodes and Peyer's patches. However, their splenic architecture is normal, exhibiting T-cell and B-cell compartments and distinct germinal centres. The cell population that produces lymphotoxins, essential factors for the development of secondary lymphoid organs6,7,8,9,10,11, is barely detectable in the Id2−/− intestine. Furthermore, the null mutants show a greatly reduced population of natural killer (NK) cells, which is due to an intrinsic defect in NK-cell precursors. Our results indicate that Id2 has an essential role in the generation of peripheral lymphoid organs and NK cells. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/17812 DO - 10.1038/17812 ID - Yokota1999 ER -