title: Differentiation of T cells from immature precursors in murine T cell colonies.
abstract: We describe a system for growing murine colonies containing subsets of functional T cells derived from immature T cell precursors. In contrast with previously described systems in which colony formation appears to depend upon activation and clonal expansion of mature T cells, we obtain comparable or increased numbers of colonies after depletion of T cells from spleen or bone marrow, or on culturing spleen or bone marrow from athymic nude mice. The proportion of cells expressing the T cell surface markers Thy-1, Lyt-1, and Lyt-2 is highly variable from colony to colony, consistent with the colonies arising from immature T cells, which differentiate in the colonies to give rise to various subsets of mature T cells.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D003470:Culture Media; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000494:pharmacology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008819:Mice, Nude; D010641:Phenotype; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D003470:Culture Media; D007106:Immune Sera