A unique subset of normal murine CD4+ T cells lacking Thy-1 is expanded in a murine retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency syndrome, MAIDS.
Some strains of mice inoculated with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus (MuLV) develop a syndrome, termed mouse acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS), characterized by progressive lymphoproliferation and profound immunodeficiency. LP-BM5 MuLV is a virus mixture that contains ecotropic (eco) and mink cell focus-induced MuLV and a defective genome that is the proximal cause of disease. Flow cytometry analyses of spleen and lymph nodes from susceptible C57BL/6 mice infected with this virus mixture revealed the presence in spleen and peripheral lymph nodes of a previously unrecognized subset of CD4+CD3+ T cells that are Thy-1-. The frequency of these cells increased with progression of disease, eventually comprising between 30% and 50% of all CD4+ cells. Infection of A/J mice, a strain which is genetically resistant to development of MAIDS, did not induce an increase of this T cell population, indicating that infection with the virus mixture was insufficient to induce its proliferation. A central role for the defective virus in this process was suggested by the finding that C57BL/6 mice infected with LP-BM5 eco alone did not have increased frequencies of Thy-1-CD4+ cells in spleen. Studies of spleen and peripheral lymph node cells from normal mice demonstrated the presence of Thy-1-CD4+ cells at frequencies of 1%-2%. Studies using two anti-T cell monoclonal antibodies, SM6C10 and SM3G11, that define four CD4+ subsets showed that Thy-1-CD4+ T cells from normal and infected mice were present only in the 6C10- subsets.
Holmes
K L
KL
Biological Resources Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Morse
H C
HC
Makino
M
M
Hardy
R R
RR
Hayakawa
K
K
D000818:Animals; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000032:analysis; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D016183:Murine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000032:analysis; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology*; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens
D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D017252:CD3 Complex; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens