Naive T cells proliferate strongly in neonatal mice in response to self-peptide/self-MHC complexes.
Adult naive T cells, which are at rest in normal conditions, proliferate strongly when transferred to lymphopenic hosts. In neonates, the first mature thymocytes to migrate to the periphery reach a compartment devoid of preexisting T cells. We have extensively analyzed the proliferation rate and phenotype of peripheral T cells from normal C57BL/6 and T cell antigen receptor transgenic mice as a function of age. We show that, like adult naive T cells transferred to lymphopenic mice, neonatal naive T cells proliferate strongly. By using bone-marrow transfer and thymic-graft models, we demonstrate that the proliferation of the first thymic emigrants reaching the periphery requires T cell antigen receptor-self-peptide/self-MHC interactions and is regulated by the size of the peripheral T cell pool.
Le Campion
Armelle
A
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U345, Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfants Malades, 156 Rue de Vaugirard, F-75730 Paris Cedex 15, France.
Bourgeois
Christine
C
Lambolez
Florence
F
Martin
Bruno
B
Léaument
Sandrine
S
Dautigny
Nicole
N
Tanchot
Corinne
C
Pénit
Claude
C
Lucas
Bruno
B
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000276:immunology*; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens / Q000502:physiology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology
D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell