title: In vivo depletion of leukocytes and platelets following injection of T cell-specific antibodies into mice.
abstract: In vivo T cell depletion experiments are widely used to establish the role of these cells in a variety of immunological processes. Different clones of monoclonal antibody targeting the CD3 molecular complex (mainly 145-2C11 and 17A2) have been successfully used for T cell depletion. In the present work, we assessed the specificity of monoclonal antibody-mediated CD3 T cell depletion in mouse peripheral blood. We showed that treatment of BALB/C mice with monoclonal antibodies (clones 145-2C11 and 17A2) not only efficiently depletes T cells in vivo, but also leads to a substantial reduction in B cell, granulocyte and platelet counts. In contrast, T cell depletion using a combination of anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 antibodies was efficient and produced less deleterious effects on other blood cell populations. Therefore, the results obtained from T cell depletion experiments using anti-CD3 antibodies must be interpreted with caution prior to draw definitive conclusions on the role of T cells in a given immunological process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, Héma-Québec, Quebec G1V 5C3, Canada. lionel.loubaki@hema-quebec.qc.ca
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Loubaki
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bazin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000276:immunology*; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000276:immunology; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D017252:CD3 Complex; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte