Miller S C
Cell Immunol. 1984 Mar;84(1):194-9. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(84)90090-x.
The postulate made by some investigators that functional NK cells are of pre-T lineage remains highly controversial. The present study tested this possibility by adoptive transfer of fetal thymocytes, rich in pre-T cells, into aged syngeneic mice which show thymic involution and low or no splenic NK activity. Splenic NK activity of aged CBA/J mice at 1 or 3 days after intravenous injection of fetal thymocytes was measured with a 4-hr chromium-release assay. Another group received saline only and a third group received either thymocytes as above or saline, and were subsequently injected with the interferon inducer, poly(I:C), 12 hr prior to removal of their spleens for the NK assay. The results revealed that reconstitution with fetal thymocytes did not restore NK activity in aged mice at 1 or 3 days after thymocyte inoculation. Poly(I:C) treatment caused an elevation of NK activity in both thymocyte-injected and control mice. The spleens of aged hosts given young adult splenocytes, on the other hand, had significantly elevated NK activity over controls. Collectively, the results demonstrate that while the adult spleen contains functional NK cells, the fetal thymus, rich in pre-T cells, does not contain functional NK cells or NK precursors as detected by maturation into functional NK cells within 3 days in the aged secondary hosts.
一些研究人员提出的功能性自然杀伤（NK）细胞属于前T细胞谱系的假设仍然极具争议性。本研究通过将富含前T细胞的胎儿胸腺细胞过继转移到表现出胸腺退化且脾脏NK活性低或无活性的同基因老龄小鼠体内，来检验这种可能性。在静脉注射胎儿胸腺细胞后1天或3天，用4小时铬释放试验测量老龄CBA/J小鼠脾脏的NK活性。另一组只接受生理盐水，第三组接受上述胸腺细胞或生理盐水，随后在取脾脏进行NK检测前12小时注射干扰素诱导剂聚肌苷酸-聚胞苷酸（poly(I:C)）。结果显示，在接种胸腺细胞后1天或3天，用胎儿胸腺细胞重建并不能恢复老龄小鼠的NK活性。Poly(I:C)处理使注射胸腺细胞的小鼠和对照小鼠的NK活性均升高。另一方面，给老龄宿主移植年轻成年小鼠的脾细胞后，其脾脏的NK活性比对照显著升高。总体而言，结果表明，虽然成年脾脏含有功能性NK细胞，但富含前T细胞的胎儿胸腺并不含有功能性NK细胞或NK前体，这是通过在老龄二级宿主中3天内成熟为功能性NK细胞来检测的。
