Extrathymic T cell maturation. Phenotypic analysis of T cell subsets in nude mice as a function of age.
T cell maturation in an extrathymic environment has been studied using as a model the congenitally athymic nude mouse. Phenotypic analyses as a function of age were conducted on lymphocytes obtained from the spleens and lymph nodes of nude mice through use of mAb recognizing T cell surface markers and multiparameter flow cytometry. The data show that nude mice accumulate increasing numbers of lymphocytes bearing Thy-1, CD3, CD4, and CD8 with age characterized by a progression from heterogeneous dim to more homogeneous bright expression. In contrast, the expression of heat-stable Ag (HSA), a marker of immature thymocytes, decreases with age. By analogy to intrathymic maturation, spleens and lymph nodes in nude mice contain T cells defined as immature, transitional, and mature based on the expression of these markers. Although the proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells associated with bright CD3 expression increases with age, at no age are significant numbers of CD4+8+ cells observed, in contrast to intrathymic T cell maturation. In addition to the frequently observed inversion in the ratio of CD4 to CD8, the CD8 T cell subpopulation in older nude mice contains mainly mature cells (CD8+, CD3+, HSA-) whereas only 50% of CD4+ T cells express the mature (CD4+, CD3+, HSA-) phenotype. At any age, the spectrum of phenotypes observed indicates that lymph nodes contain more mature T cells than spleen, suggesting a role for environmental Ag in driving extrathymic maturation, a process occurring most efficiently among CD8+ T cells. Because extrathymic maturation mirrors some but not all aspects of the intrathymic pathway, we propose that the nude mouse may be a useful model for further dissecting those interactions crucial to establishing the T cell repertoire in euthymic individuals as well as elucidating the contribution of extrathymically derived T cells to the peripheral immune system.
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, MO.
J D
JD
Kennedy
C W
CW
Pierce
J P
JP
Lake
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000378:metabolism*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004848:Epithelium / Q000276:immunology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude / Q000276:immunology*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology
D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell