Thymocytes

Positive selection and lineage commitment

Thymocytes which pass β-selection express a T cell receptor which is capable of assembling on the surface. However, many of these T cell receptors will still be non-functional, due to an inability to bind MHC. The next major stage of thymocyte development is positive selection, to keep only those thymocytes which have a T cell receptor capable of binding MHC. The T cell receptor requires CD8 as a coreceptor to bind to MHC class I, and CD4 as a coreceptor to bind MHC class II. At this stage thymocytes upregulate both CD4 and CD8, becoming double positive cells.