Role of the liver in T cell differentiation--generation of CD3-CD4+/CD8+TCRbeta- cells and CD3-4-8-TCRbeta+ cells from CD4-8-TCRbeta- athymic nude bone marrow cells by culture with parenchymal liver cells.

To investigate the influence of the liver on differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells/pro-T cells, TN-NWP-BMC (athymic nude bone marrow cells that were treated with anti-TCRbeta, anti-CD4, and anti-CD8 Abs plus complement and then passed through a nylon wool column) were cultured on parenchymal liver cells. After culture for 2.5 days, CD3-4-8-TCRbeta+ cells and CD3-CD4+/CD8+TCRbeta- cells were developed from TN-NWP-BMC. TCRVbeta8+ cells comprised 19.9% of CD3-4-8-TCRbeta+ cells, and Vbeta8 mRNA was detected in the CD3-4-8-TCRbeta+ cells by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The CD3-CD4+/CD8+TCRbeta- cells contained not only single-positive cells but also CD4+8+ double-positive cells. The CD8 protein consisted of 88.9% CD8alpha+beta-, 10.1% CD8alpha+beta+, and 1% CD8alpha-beta+ molecules. From these results and the finding of co-expressed antigens, CD3-4-8-TCRbeta+ cells and CD3-CD4+/CD8+TCRbeta- cells appear to be immature cells not committed to a certain cell lineage.