title: Lymphocyte subsets and expression of differentiation markers in blood and lymphoid organs of rhesus monkeys.
abstract: Rhesus macaques are invaluable experimental animals in biomedical research. Using three color flow cytometry, we screened anti-human antibodies for crossreactivity with macaque cells in order to determine the distribution of functionally important lymphocyte subsets in blood, lymph nodes (LN), and spleen. NK-cells are almost completely absent in LN. The percentage of B-cells expressing CD80, CD86, and the level of expression of CD20 is higher in blood than in LN. In contrast, a higher proportion of B-cells in LN stains positive for CD21 and CD35. Whereas the number of CD29hi expressing T-cells is lower, CD69 is expressed on more T-cells in LN than in blood. About one-third of CD8+ T-cells in blood are CD28-, a subset with a unique pattern of antigen expression which cannot be found in LN. In contrast to humans, a relatively high proportion of T-cells in blood also express the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. With increasing age, the proportion of B-cells in blood declines, whereas the percentage of T-cells rises. In addition, the proportion of CD29hi expressing T-cells increases among both the CD4+ and CD8+ subsets.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Germany. viro071@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sopper
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stahl-Hennig
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Demuth
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dörries
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: ter Meulen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D015415:Biomarkers; D001769:Blood; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000378:metabolism*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD; D015415:Biomarkers