Development of intraepithelial T lymphocytes in the intestine of irradiated SCID mice by adult liver hematopoietic stem cells from normal mice.
OBJECTIVE
We recently reported the adult mouse liver to contain c-kit+ stem cells that can give rise to multilineage leukocytes. This study was designed to determine whether or not adult mouse liver stem cells can generate intraepithelial T cells in the intestine as well as to examine the possibility that adult liver c-kit+ stem cells originate from the fetal liver.


METHODS
Adult liver mononuclear cells, bone marrow (BM) cells, liver c-kit+ cells or bone BM c-kit+ cells of BALB/c mice were i.v. transferred into 4 Gy irradiated CB17/-SCID mice. In other experiments, fetal liver cells from Ly5.1 C57BL/6 mice and T cell depleted adult BM cells from Ly5.2 C57BL/6 mice were simultaneously transferred into irradiated C57BL/6 SCID mice (Ly5.2). At 1 to 8 weeks after cell transfer, the SCID mice were examined.


RESULTS
Not only BM cells and BM c-kit+ cells but also liver mononuclear cells and liver c-kit+ cells reconstituted gamma delta T cells, CD4+ CD8+ double-positive T cells and CD8 alpha+beta- T cells of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes of SCID mice. Injection of a mixture of fetal liver cells from Ly5.1 C57BL/6 mice and adult BM cells from Ly5.2 C57BL/6 mice into Ly5.2 C57BL/6 SCID mice induced both Ly5.1 and Ly5.2 T cells, while also generating c-kit+ cells of both Ly5.1 and Ly5.2 origins in the liver.


CONCLUSIONS
Adult mouse liver stem cells were able to generate intestinal intraepithelial T cells of the SCID mice, and it is thus suggested that some adult liver stem cells may indeed be derived from the fetal liver.
Yamagiwa
S
S
Department of Immunology, Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan.
Seki
S
S
Shirai
K
K
Yoshida
Y
Y
Miyaji
C
C
Watanabe
H
H
Abo
T
T
D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016513:Mice, SCID; D010581:Peyer's Patches / Q000276:immunology; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit