Lugo J P, Krishnan S N, Sailor R D, Koen P, Malek T, Rothenberg E
J Exp Med. 1985 May 1;161(5):1048-62. doi: 10.1084/jem.161.5.1048.
We have tested the dividing cells in the mouse thymus for expression of interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptors (IL-2-R) using the rat monoclonal antibody 7D4. A discrete subpopulation of the lymphoblasts clearly expressed IL-2-R at levels comparable to those on mitogen-activated peripheral T cells. This subpopulation, however, represented a small minority of the proliferating cells. IL-2-R-bearing cells were depleted from the PNA+ (peanut agglutinin) lymphoblast population, which contains the direct precursors of most of the cells in the thymus. The majority of receptor-bearing cells were found in the PNA- lymphoblast population, where they constituted only approximately 12% of the cells. Thus, virtually all the PNA+ and most of the PNA- blast cells were in cycle without detectable IL-2-R expression. This indicates that they were not dividing in response to IL-2, and implies that they were not dividing in response to antigen, but rather to novel thymus-specific mitogenic stimuli. On the other hand, the proliferating cells that do express IL-2-R were enriched 4-5-fold in the rapidly growing neonatal thymus, suggesting that they may also play a key role in T cell development.
我们使用大鼠单克隆抗体7D4检测了小鼠胸腺中正在分裂的细胞白细胞介素2（IL-2）受体（IL-2-R）的表达情况。一个离散的淋巴母细胞亚群明显表达IL-2-R，其水平与丝裂原激活的外周T细胞上的水平相当。然而，这个亚群只占增殖细胞中的一小部分。携带IL-2-R的细胞从PNA +（花生凝集素）淋巴母细胞群体中被耗尽，该群体包含胸腺中大多数细胞的直接前体。大多数携带受体的细胞存在于PNA-淋巴母细胞群体中，在那里它们仅占细胞总数的约12%。因此，几乎所有的PNA +和大多数PNA-母细胞都处于细胞周期中，但没有可检测到的IL-2-R表达。这表明它们不是对IL-2作出反应而分裂，意味着它们不是对抗原作出反应而分裂，而是对新的胸腺特异性有丝分裂刺激作出反应。另一方面，确实表达IL-2-R的增殖细胞在快速生长的新生胸腺中富集了4至5倍，这表明它们可能在T细胞发育中也起着关键作用。
