A murine thymic stromal cell line which may support the differentiation of CD4-8- thymocytes into CD4+8- alpha beta T cell receptor positive T cells.
A fibroblastoid cell line TSt-4 was established from fetal thymus tissue of C57BL/6 mice. When fetal thymus (FT) cells or CD4-8- (DN) cells of adult thymuses were cultured on the monolayer of TSt-4, a considerable proportion of lymphocytes expressed CD4 or both CD4 and CD8 within 1 day, and the CD4+CD8- cells were maintained further while the CD4+8+ cells disappeared by Day 5. A large proportion of cells generated from DN cells but not FT cells was shown to express CD3 and T cell receptor alpha beta. Addition of recombinant interleukin (IL)-7 into the cultures resulted in a marked increase of cell recovery without virtual change in differentiation process of alpha beta lineage. The present work strongly suggests that thymic fibroblasts play an important role in T cell differentiation and IL-7 contributes to supporting proliferation of differentiated cells.
Watanabe
Y
Y
Department of Immunology, Kyoto University, Japan.
Mazda
O
O
Aiba
Y
Y
Iwai
K
K
Gyotoku
J
J
Ideyama
S
S
Miyazaki
J
J
Katsura
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002450:Cell Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects; D015851:Interleukin-7 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*
D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D015851:Interleukin-7; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D011994:Recombinant Proteins