Kukel S, Reinhold U, Oltermann I, Kreysel H W
Department of Dermatology, University of Bonn, Germany.
Clin Exp Immunol. 1994 Oct;98(1):163-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1994.tb06624.x.
CD7 is one of the major surface antigens expressed very early during T cell ontogeny. Lack of CD7 expression on mature T cells is regarded as a classical feature of malignant T cells in certain forms of cutaneous T cell lymphoma. Previously, we identified a CD7- subset of peripheral blood T lymphocytes in normal human individuals. In this study we determined the portion of CD7- T cells in the peripheral blood of healthy volunteers ranging in age from 8 months to 90 years (n = 85) and in cord blood of full-term infants (n = 14). Furthermore, this CD7- subset was characterized in detail by the use of MoAbs and three-colour flow cytometry. In cord blood no CD7- T cells could be detected. After birth, percentage and absolute number of CD7- T cells increased with age. Independently of age, most CD7-CD3+ cells belonged to the CD4+ subpopulation. Focusing on the latter we could demonstrate the predominance of the CD45RO+CD45RA- phenotype in the CD7- subset. Furthermore, CD7- T cells contained a higher number of cells expressing activation markers and the CD57 antigen, but a reduced number of CD62L+ cells in comparison with CD7+ T cells.
CD7是T细胞个体发育早期表达的主要表面抗原之一。成熟T细胞上缺乏CD7表达被认为是某些形式的皮肤T细胞淋巴瘤中恶性T细胞的典型特征。此前，我们在正常人类个体中鉴定出外周血T淋巴细胞的一个CD7阴性亚群。在本研究中，我们测定了年龄在8个月至90岁之间的健康志愿者（n = 85）外周血以及足月婴儿脐带血（n = 14）中CD7阴性T细胞的比例。此外，通过使用单克隆抗体和三色流式细胞术对该CD7阴性亚群进行了详细表征。在脐带血中未检测到CD7阴性T细胞。出生后，CD7阴性T细胞的百分比和绝对数量随年龄增加。与年龄无关，大多数CD7阴性CD3阳性细胞属于CD4阳性亚群。聚焦于后者，我们可以证明CD7阴性亚群中CD45RO阳性CD45RA阴性表型占主导。此外，与CD7阳性T细胞相比，CD7阴性T细胞中表达激活标志物和CD57抗原的细胞数量更多，但CD62L阳性细胞数量减少。
