title: Analysis of the first two waves of thymus homing stem cells and their T cell progeny in chick-quail chimeras.
abstract: Chick-quail chimeras were used to study precursor/progeny relationships of hemopoietic stem cells (SC) that enter the embryonic thymus in waves to give rise sequentially to the TCR-1+, TCR-2+, and TCR-3+ lineages of T cells. The first wave of SC and their progeny were examined by grafting thymus from 9-d chick embryos (E9) into E3 quails. mAbs specific for chick T cell antigens were used to trace the development of T cells in the recipients. All three lineages of TCR-bearing cells were generated from the first wave of SC. The cortico-medullary transit time was several day shorter for the TCR-1 subpopulation than for the TCR-2 subpopulation, and the peripheral seeding of TCR-2 cells also occurred later in development. The duration of thymocyte production from the first wave of SC that entered the thymus was approximately 3 wk, during which gradual cortical to medullary replacement by second wave SC progeny occurred. When the latter was examined, after transplantation of E7 quail thymus into E3 chick embryos, a sequential generation pattern for the TCR-1 and TCR-2 cell progeny was not evident. Finally, recirculation of T cells to the thymus medulla was defined in this avian model.
authors.affiliation: Institut d'Embryologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et du College de France, Nogent-Sur-Marne.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coltey
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Bucy
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cihak
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lösch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Char
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Le Douarin
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002678:Chimera; D003370:Coturnix; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal