Exogenous Thy-1.1 expression as a marker for thymocyte maturation in transgenic mice.
We established a line of transgenic mice carrying the exogenous mouse Thy-1.1 gene (8.2 Kb Eco RI genomic DNA fragment). In these mice, Thy-1.1 was expressed on thymocytes but not on peripheral T cells, presumably due to the lack of cis-acting element(s) on the microinjected genomic DNA. Even in the thymus, however, while most of the CD3/TCR- thymocytes were positive for the transgenic Thy-1.1 gene expression, the CD4+ or CD8+ single positive (SP) thymocytes were composed of two groups, one Thy-1.1+ and one Thy-1.1-, suggesting that the former belongs to cells at premature stages of terminal T cell differentiation. There was no difference in the amount of CD3/TCR complexes expressed on two such SP thymocyte subsets. In the double negative (DN) thymocytes, all the CD3/TCR+ cells were Thy-1.1-. These results suggest that the maturational process of CD3+ DN thymocytes differs from that of SP thymocytes. The unique distribution of Thy-1.1+ population among CD3+ thymocytes suggests that the transgenic Thy-1.1 gene expression can serve as a useful marker to examine terminal maturation processes of CD3+ thymocytes.
Nishimura
H
H
Department of Pathology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Nozawa
S
S
Awaji
M
M
Saitoh
J
J
Abe
M
M
Hattori
S
S
Hirose
S
S
Shirai
T
T
D000818:Animals; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D015870:Gene Expression; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000032:analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens
D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens