Zeiller K, Pascher G, Wagner G, Liebich H G, Holzberg E, Hannig K
Immunology. 1974 May;26(5):995-1012.
Thymus-dependent cells from thymus and peripheral lymphoid organs were preparatively separated by means of free flow electrophoresis into various subpopulations which were defined in terms of θ (theta) antigen content, negative surface charge, graft-versus-host (GvH) reactivity, hydrocortisone sensitivity, cell volume and morphological details. Most thymocytes in the cortex have a low negative surface charge, high θ antigen content, are hydrocortisone-sensitive and immuno-incompetent. On the basis of electronic cell sizing this group consists of a large population of 90 μm cells (T) and a small population of 175 μm cells (T), the latter being less hydrocortisone-sensitive than the former. A minority of thymocytes resides in and around the medulla and has high negative surface charge, a medium θ antigen content, is hydrocortisone-resistant and reveals low GvH reactivity. These cells are medium sized (125 μm), electrophoretically bimodal (T had a medium and T a high negative surface charge) and on the basis of morphological criteria are metabolically more active than the thymocytes of low negative surface charge. In the peripheral lymphoid organs, all thymus-dependent cells show high negative surface charge and have the lowest observed θ antigen content and the highest observed GvH reactivity. These cells fall into two populations of which one is 125 μm with lower negative surface charge and the other is 90 μm with a somewhat higher negative surface charge. These 125 μm cells (T), which morphologically resemble the 125 μm thymocytes, are less GvH-reactive than the 90 μm (T) cells, which seem to be resting cells. On the basis of these data, a possible sequence of steps in the maturation of T cells was constructed as follows: in the cortex of the thymus T thymocytes are transformed into T and these develop into T and T thymocytes which have higher negative surface charge, lower θ antigen content and are in an advanced stage of maturity. After further loss of θ antigen these cells, which are in the medulla, emigrate into the periphery and are finally transformed into highly immunocompetent T cells possessing the highest observed negative surface charge.
来自胸腺和外周淋巴器官的胸腺依赖细胞通过自由流动电泳被制备性地分离成各种亚群，这些亚群根据θ（theta）抗原含量、表面负电荷、移植物抗宿主（GvH）反应性、氢化可的松敏感性、细胞体积和形态细节来定义。皮质中的大多数胸腺细胞表面负电荷低、θ抗原含量高、对氢化可的松敏感且免疫无活性。基于电子细胞大小测定，该群体由大量90μm的细胞（T）和少量175μm的细胞（T）组成，后者对氢化可的松的敏感性低于前者。少数胸腺细胞位于髓质及其周围，表面负电荷高、θ抗原含量中等、对氢化可的松有抗性且GvH反应性低。这些细胞中等大小（125μm），电泳呈双峰（T表面负电荷中等，T表面负电荷高），基于形态学标准，其代谢活性比表面负电荷低的胸腺细胞更高。在外周淋巴器官中，所有胸腺依赖细胞表面负电荷高，观察到的θ抗原含量最低，GvH反应性最高。这些细胞分为两个群体，其中一个是125μm，表面负电荷较低，另一个是90μm，表面负电荷略高。这些125μm的细胞（T）在形态上类似于125μm的胸腺细胞，其GvH反应性低于90μm的（T）细胞，后者似乎是静止细胞。基于这些数据，构建了T细胞成熟过程中可能的步骤顺序如下：在胸腺皮质中，T胸腺细胞转化为T，这些细胞发育为T和T胸腺细胞，它们具有更高的表面负电荷、更低的θ抗原含量且处于成熟的晚期阶段。在进一步丢失θ抗原后，这些位于髓质的细胞迁移到外周，最终转化为具有最高观察到的表面负电荷的高度免疫活性T细胞。
