title: Isolation of the most immature population of murine fetal thymocytes that includes progenitors capable of generating T, B, and myeloid cells.
abstract: Thymus cells of murine fetuses at day 12 of gestation are exclusively of the CD3-CD4-CD8-CD44+CD25- phenotype, which is known as a hallmark of the most immature subset of thymus cells. In the present study, we show that day 12 fetal thymus (FT) cells express Fc gamma RII/ III (FcR) at a broad range of levels on their surface. The FcR+ FT cells seem to represent T lineage cells, because a large majority of them express the T lineage specific transcription factors TCF-1 and GATA-3 as well as CD3 epsilon in the cytoplasm. Also shown is that the FcR- population contains progenitors capable of developing into not only T cells but also B and myeloid cells, whereas FcR+ progenitors are mostly committed to the T lineage. These findings indicate that thymic T lineage cells express FcR on their surface at the earliest stage of differentiation, and thus FcR is a useful marker in isolating the most immature population of murine FT cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Chest Disease Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katsura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011961:Receptors, Fc; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D011961:Receptors, Fc; D014157:Transcription Factors