Intrathymic differentiation of V gamma 3 T cells.

Whereas there is considerable information on the phenotypic and functional maturation of T cell receptor (TCR) alpha/beta thymocytes, comparatively little is known of the maturational processes that affect development of TCR-gamma/delta thymocytes. One class of gamma/delta T cells, those bearing the V gamma 3 gene product, are generated only during the early fetal stages of thymic development, and then migrate to the skin. Here we examine the intrathymic differentiation of these V gamma 3+ cells. The earliest V gamma 3 cells to appear in the thymus expressed low levels of TCR (V gamma 3low) and high levels of heat stable antigen (HSA). Over the next few days, V gamma 3+ thymocytes appeared which expressed high levels of TCR (V gamma 3high) and very low levels of HSA. The antigens CD5, CD45RB, and MEL14 were also differentially expressed on V gamma 3low versus V gamma 3high thymocytes, but the shift in expression was the opposite as compared with immature and mature TCR-alpha/beta thymocytes. Transfer experiments of sorted V gamma 3low/HSAhigh thymocytes to SCID thymic lobes showed that these cells were indeed the precursors of V gamma 3high/HSAlow thymocytes. The phenotype of the V gamma 3high thymocytes was similar to that of the postthymic V gamma 3+ cells found in the skin of adult mice. The differentiation of V gamma 3low in V gamma 3high thymocytes was also observed in fetal thymic organ culture. Addition of cyclosporin A (CsA) to these cultures had little effect on the appearance of V gamma 3low/HSAhigh cells, but blocked the appearance of V gamma 3high/HSAlow cells. These results show that, like alpha/beta T cells, V gamma 3+ thymocytes differentiate from TCRlow precursors to cells with a mature phenotype and that CsA inhibits this transition.