Pircher H, Ohashi P S, Boyd R L, Hengartner H, Brduscha K
Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Eur J Immunol. 1994 Sep;24(9):1982-7. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830240907.
We have characterized a prominent (15-20%) thymocyte population expressing CD4 at a high and CD8 at a low level (CD4+8lo) in mice transgenic for a T cell receptor (TCR) restricted by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. The results demonstrate that the CD4+8lo population is an intermediate stage between immature CD4+8+ and end-stage CD4+8- thymocytes and that the survival of these cells crucially depends on the successful interaction of the transgenic TCR with self MHC class I molecules. In addition we demonstrate that the avidity of the interaction between TCR and self MHC class I molecules determines whether CD4+8lo thymocytes are found in significant numbers in this transgenic model. Our findings support a selective and multi-step model of T cell differentiation in the thymus.
我们已经对在转基因小鼠中表达高水平CD4和低水平CD8（CD4+8lo）的显著（15%-20%）胸腺细胞群体进行了特征描述，这些转基因小鼠的T细胞受体（TCR）受主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）I类分子限制。结果表明，CD4+8lo群体是未成熟CD4+8+和终末阶段CD4+8-胸腺细胞之间的一个中间阶段，并且这些细胞的存活关键取决于转基因TCR与自身MHC I类分子的成功相互作用。此外，我们证明TCR与自身MHC I类分子之间相互作用的亲和力决定了在该转基因模型中是否能发现大量的CD4+8lo胸腺细胞。我们的研究结果支持胸腺中T细胞分化的选择性和多步骤模型。
