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However, the nature of TEPs and the mechanism controlling their stemness in the postnatal thymus remain poorly defined. Using TEC clonogenic assays as a surrogate to survey TEP activity, we found that a fraction of cTECs generates specialized clonal\u2010derived colonies, which contain cells with sustained colony\u2010forming capacity (<jats:italic>Clono<\/jats:italic>TECs). These <jats:italic>Clono<\/jats:italic>TECs are EpCAM+MHCII\u2010Foxn1lo cells that lack traits of mature cTECs or mTECs but co\u2010express stem\u2010cell markers, including CD24 and Sca\u20101. Supportive of their progenitor identity, <jats:italic>Clono<\/jats:italic>TECs reintegrate within native thymic microenvironments and generate cTECs or mTECs in vivo. Strikingly, the frequency of cTECs with the potential to generate <jats:italic>Clono<\/jats:italic>TECs wanes between the postnatal and young adult immunocompetent thymus, but it is sustained in alymphoid <jats:italic>Rag2\u2010\/\u2010Il2rg\u2010<\/jats:italic>\/\u2010 counterparts. Conversely, transplantation of wild\u2010type bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors into <jats:italic>Rag2\u2010\/\u2010Il2rg<\/jats:italic>\u2010\/\u2010 mice and consequent restoration of thymocyte\u2010mediated TEC differentiation diminishes the frequency of colony\u2010forming units within cTECs. Our findings provide evidence that the cortical epithelium contains a reservoir of epithelial progenitors whose abundance is dynamically controlled by continual interactions with developing thymocytes across lifespan.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/eji.201746922","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,20]],"date-time":"2017-03-20T09:26:45Z","timestamp":1490002005000},"page":"958-969","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":38,"title":["Thymic crosstalk restrains the pool of cortical thymic epithelial cells with progenitor properties"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"47","author":[{"given":"Catarina","family":"Meireles","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"},{"name":"Thymus Development and Function Laboratory Infection and Immunity Unit Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular  Porto Portugal"},{"name":"Doctoral Program in Cell and Molecular Biology Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana R.","family":"Ribeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"},{"name":"Thymus Development and Function Laboratory Infection and Immunity Unit Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular  Porto Portugal"}]},{"given":"Rute D.","family":"Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"},{"name":"Thymus Development and Function Laboratory Infection and Immunity Unit Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular  Porto Portugal"}]},{"given":"Catarina","family":"Leit\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"}]},{"given":"Pedro M.","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"},{"name":"Thymus Development and Function Laboratory Infection and Immunity Unit Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular  Porto Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1567-8389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuno L.","family":"Alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o e Inova\u00e7\u00e3o em Sa\u00fade Universidade do Porto  Porto Portugal"},{"name":"Thymus Development and Function Laboratory Infection and Immunity Unit Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular  Porto 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