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Development of Functional Rat‐Derived T Cells in SCID Mice Engrafted with the Fetal Thymus of LEC Rats Which Are Defective in CD4 + T Cells
Author(s) -
Chai JianGuo,
Sakai Tohru,
Hisaeda Hajime,
Nagasawa Hideyuki,
Yasutomo Koji,
Furukawa Atuko,
Ishikawa Hiroyuki,
Maekawa Yoichi,
Uehara Hisanori,
Izumi Keisuke,
Matsumoto Kozo,
Himeno Kunisuke
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1996.tb01124.x
Subject(s) - biology , thymocyte , cd8 , bone marrow , severe combined immunodeficiency , microbiology and biotechnology , t cell , progenitor cell , major histocompatibility complex , spleen , stem cell , haematopoiesis , immunology , immune system , biochemistry , gene
We reported that LEC rats are genetically deficient in the development of thymic CD4 + 8 − cells and that this defect is caused by bone marrow (BM)‐derived stem cells. To determine which BM‐derived cells are responsible for the arrest of T‐cell development in LEC rats, fetal thymuses of LEC rats, or LEA rats which bear the same major histocompatibility complex (MHC) as LEC rats but are immunologically normal, were engrafted under the kidney capsule of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice (LEC‐TG and LEA‐TG mice, respectively). We then examined the differentiation of T cells and their immunological functions in the SCID mice. A large number of rat‐derived CD4 + T cells appeared in the peripheral blood, lymph nodes (LN) and spleens in LEC‐TG mice. Furthermore, the peripheral LN cells in LEC‐TG mice appeared to be functional. These cells produced IL‐2 upon Con A stimulation, whereas LN cells from LEC rats produced no IL‐2 in the same conditions. Thymopoiesis was observed at 3 weeks in LEC‐TG as well as LEA‐TG mice. The distribution of thymocyte subsets with respect to CD4 and CD8 expression in LEC‐TG mice closely resembled that of LEA rat thymus and that in LEA‐TG mice, suggesting that normal T‐cell differentiation occurred in LEC‐TG mice. The results indicated that BM‐derived progenitor T cells of LEC rats could differentiate to functional CD4 + T cells.