Organ specificity of c-kit+ lymphoid precursors in the liver, thymus, and bone marrow.
c-kit+Lin- cells are present in various immune organs, including the liver, thymus, and bone marrow, where lymphoid, myeloid, or erythroid cells are generated. To compare their properties as lymphoid precursors, c-kit+Lin- cells purified from various organs of B6.Ly5.1 mice were injected into 6.5 Gy-irradiated B6.Ly5.2 mice. Depending on the source of the c-kit cells, the degree of entrance and expansion of lymphoid cells differed in the liver and thymus of recipient mice. c-kit+ cells isolated from the bone marrow entered and expanded prominently in both the liver and thymus, whereas c-kit+ cells from the thymus did not do so at all. On the other hand, c-kit+ cells isolated from the liver and spleen showed an intermediate pattern, namely, they took a long time to enter and expand in the liver and thymus of recipient mice. All of these c-kit+ cells had the potential to give rise to lymphoid cells, which were specific to the liver and thymus, respectively. We previously showed that progenitor cells for extrathymic T cells in the liver and those for conventional T cells in the thymus are not always supplied by the bone marrow, as shown by experiments using parabiosis. Taken together with those previous data, the present results suggest that c-kit+Lin- cells isolated from various immune organs have organ specific properties.
Shimizu
T
T
Department of Immunology, Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan.
Bannai
M
M
Kawamura
H
H
Yamamoto
S
S
Oya
H
H
Maruyama
S
S
Minagawa
M
M
Kawamura
T
T
Watanabe
H
H
Hatakeyama
K
K
Abo
T
T
D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology*; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009928:Organ Specificity; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000032:analysis*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*
D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit