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Results for “Double-negative”

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PubMed1991

Regulation of immunity in Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

Immunity to T. cruzi is complex, involving among other components, antibody production, CD4+ helper cells, CD8+ T cells as both regulators and effectors of immunity, and possibly, double-negative T cells. In addition, several of these components have been implicated in pathogenesis in the chronic infection. Although the immunosuppression observed in the infection seems quite severe, it also appears to provide for a sufficient level of immune responsiveness to control the infection in most hosts. At the same time, immunosuppression may provide the regulatory control necessary to prevent massive chronic pathogenesis in all hosts. Continued study of the relative roles of lymphocyte populations and the products they secrete in immunity and pathogenesis may provide the understanding necessary to enhance immunity to T. cruzi without the feared consequence of increased pathogenesis.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

CD5+ B cells and CD4-8-T cells in neuroimmunological diseases.

Using 2- and 3-colour FACS analysis we found increased levels of fetal-type CD5+ B cells and CD4-8- T cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and aseptic meningitis (AM) compared to control probands with muscular tension headache (TH). Similar differences were found for CD5+ B cells in peripheral blood, but at lower levels. CD4-8- T cells in blood exceeded those in CSF in all patient groups, with the exception of relapsing remitting MS, revealing the highest values in AM. There was a positive correlation between CD4-8- T cells and T cell receptor (TCR) gamma delta bearing T cells in blood and CSF. The double-negative T cells exceeded the TCR gamma delta T cells by about 1%. A positive correlation between CD5+ B cells and CD4-8- T cell level in CSF was found in MS and AM, but not in TH, nor in blood of any patient group. HLA-DR expression was lower in CD5+ B cells than in CD5- B cells. We conclude that fetal-type lymphocytes are enriched in CSF compartment of patients with inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system, irrespective of autoimmune mechanisms involved, but the function of CD5+ B cells is mainly to produce the autoantibodies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2026

A distinct effector B cell population drives autoantibody production in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Autoantibodies (autoAbs) are linked to mortality and Long COVID, yet their cellular origins remain unclear. We analyzed the INCOV cohort and identified 12 age- and sex-matched participants with varying autoAb abundance and integrated single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq data from B cells, plasma proteomics, proteome-wide autoAb profiling, clinical data, and in vitro assays. AutoAb abundance inversely correlated with neutralizing IgG and declined as infection resolved, paralleling the contraction of atypical memory B cells (AtMs). In vitro, AtMs preferentially differentiated into autoAb-producing antibody-secreting cells upon TLR7/8 stimulation. CD11c+ AtMs (double-negative 2, DN2s) in autoAb-high individuals exhibited increased TLR7 signaling, oxidative stress, and isotype switching, regulated by transcription factors T-bet and XBP1. Integrated genetic and genomic analyses showed that DN2s had the strongest enrichment for autoimmune trait heritability and inferred regulatory effects of autoimmune risk variants among B cell subsets. These findings identify DN2s as key precursors of autoAb-producing cells during SARS-CoV-2 infection.

B cell↗

PubMed1990

Self-reactive gamma delta T cells are eliminated in the thymus.

The genes encoding a gamma delta T-cell receptor specific for a major histocompatibility complex class I molecule encoded by the TIa locus have been inserted into the mouse germ line. In mice that do not express the TIa-encoded determinant, transgenic gamma delta T cells are a functional component of the CD4-CD8- 'double-negative' T cells in the thymus and peripheral lymphoid organs. In mice that express the TIa-encoded determinant, there are no transgenic gamma delta T cells in peripheral lymphoid organs, and there are no thymocytes expressing normal levels of the transgenic gamma delta T-cell receptor.

Animals↗

PubMed2026

TFAP2B and FOXC1 are associated with biologically and clinically distinct differentiation states in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises biologically distinct subtypes, including luminal androgen receptor (LAR) tumors, but routine immunohistochemical markers incompletely capture lineage-associated differentiation states. We investigated TFAP2B, an AP-2 family transcription factor linked to epithelial differentiation, and FOXC1, a basal-like-associated transcription factor, as complementary markers of luminal and basal differentiation in TNBC. In a tissue microarray of 105 TNBCs, tumors were stratified as TFAP2B-dominant, FOXC1-dominant, or double-negative according to relative marker predominance and characterized using lineage, proliferation, molecular, immune, and chemotherapy-response parameters. TFAP2B-dominant tumors were associated with a coherent luminal phenotype, including apocrine/lobular enrichment, strong MUCL1 and AR expression, high CK18, low SOX10, reduced proliferation, frequent wild-type p53 patterns and retained RB1 expression, and low PD-L1 expression. FOXC1-dominant tumors showed contrasting basal-like features. These associations were independently supported at the transcriptional and genomic levels in the METABRIC TNBC cohort. FOXC1-dominant tumors also showed more frequent chemotherapy-induced downstaging than TFAP2B-dominant tumors. Together, we identify TFAP2B as a marker associated with luminal differentiation in TNBC and support combined TFAP2B/FOXC1 assessment as a practical framework for identifying clinically relevant TNBC differentiation states.

Humans↗

PubMed1991

Adhesion of immature thymocytes to thymic stromal cells through fibronectin molecules and its significance for the induction of thymocyte differentiation.

Only 10-15% of unseparated thymocytes adhered to culture plates precoated with fibronectin (FN), but 60-70% of the CD4-8- (double-negative) thymocyte population did. This population bound to FN but not to collagen, laminin, or vitronectin. Its binding to FN was inhibited by anti-FN antibody or a mixture of synthetic peptides corresponding to two different sites of FN, termed the V10 sequence and the RGDS (Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser) sequence, which interact, respectively, with the VLA-4 and VLA-5 FN receptors expressed on T-lineage cells. CD4-8- thymocytes also adhered to a monolayer of a thymic stromal cell clone, MRL104.8a, that induces growth-maintenance and differentiation of such thymocytes. The involvement of FN-FN receptor interaction in this adhesion was demonstrated by the following lines of evidence: (i) the MRL104.8a cells expressed FN molecules on their surface and (ii) the adhesion of CD4-8- thymocytes to MRL104.8a monolayers was almost completely inhibited by simultaneous addition of anti-FN antibody and a mixture of peptides (V10 plus RGDS) capable of binding to anti-FN receptors (VLA-4 and -5). Most important, blocking the adhesion of CD4-8- thymocytes to the thymic stromal cell monolayer resulted in potent inhibition of the differentiation of these thymocytes, which was otherwise induced toward the expression of CD4 and/or CD8 molecules. These results indicate that immature CD4-8- thymocytes adhere to thymic stromal cells preferentially through FN-FN receptor interaction and that such adhesion has a critical role in inducing and/or supporting the differentiation of these thymocytes.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Selective manipulation of the human T-cell receptor repertoire expressed by thymocytes in organ culture.

A recently described organ culture system for human thymocytes is shown to support the generation of a diverse T-cell receptor repertoire in vitro: thymocytes of the alpha beta lineage, including representatives of the V beta families 5.2/5.3, 6.7, and 8, accounted for the majority of T-cell receptor-positive cells throughout a 3-week culture period. Thymocytes bearing gamma delta receptors were also identified, particularly among the CD4 CD8 double-negative subset. The T-cell receptor repertoire expressed in organ culture responded to experimental manipulation with staphylococcal enterotoxins. Staphylococcal enterotoxin D (a powerful activator of human peripheral T cells expressing V beta 5.2/5.3 receptors) caused a marked reduction of V beta 5.2/5.3 expression, as determined with the V beta-specific antibody 42/1C1. Evidence is presented that this loss of V beta 5.2/5.3 expression resulted from the selective deletion of activated thymocytes by apoptosis, in concert with T-cell receptor modulation. These effects of staphylococcal enterotoxin D were specific (since staphylococcal enterotoxin E did not influence V beta 5.2/5.3 expression) and V beta-selective (since expression of V beta 6.7 remained unaffected by staphylococcal enterotoxin D). On the basis of these observations, we suggest that thymic organ culture provides a powerful approach to study the generation of the human T-cell repertoire.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

T cell receptor-mediated selection of functional rat CD8 T cells from defined immature thymocyte precursors in short-term suspension culture.

Recent results have indicated that positive and negative repertoire selection act on the major population of CD4,8 double-positive (DP) thymocytes that express 5-10-fold less T cell receptor (TCR) than mature T cells (i.e., they are TCRlow). Since DP cells obtained ex vivo are heterogeneous with regard to their stage within thymic selection, a homogeneous population of virgin DP cells suitable for selection studies was generated in vitro from their immediate precursors, the CD8 single-positive (SP) immature blast cells. To mimic TCR-mediated selection signals, these virgin DP cells were then cultured for another 2 d in the presence of immobilized anti-TCR monoclonal antibodies with or without interleukin 2 (IL-2). Daily monitoring of recovery and phenotype showed that without TCR stimulation, the cells remained DP and became small, TCRlow cells that were lost with a half-life of 1 d, regardless of the presence of IL-2. TCR stimulation resulted in rapid downregulation of CD4 and CD8, maintenance of a larger cell size, and induction of the CD53 antigen that marks mature and CD4,8 double-negative rat thymocytes. In the absence of IL-2, viability decreased as rapidly as without TCR stimulation. Addition of IL-2 rescued TCR-stimulated virgin DP cells and prevented CD8 downregulation, so that 50-80% of input DP cells were recovered after 2 d as CD4-8+53+ cells. After release from modulation, these in vitro generated CD8 SP cells quantitatively upregulated the TCR to the TCRhigh phenotype and were readily induced to proliferate and exhibit cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity in a polyclonal readout. Evidence is presented implicating an IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) not containing the p55 chain (i.e., most likely the p70 intermediate affinity IL-2R) in the TCR plus IL-2-driven in vitro differentiation of virgin DP cells towards the mature CD8 SP phenotype.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

The appearance of T cells bearing self-reactive T cell receptor in the livers of mice injected with bacteria.

We demonstrated in the present study that with bacterial stimulation, an increased number of alpha/beta T cells proliferated in the liver of mice and that even T cells bearing self-reactive T cell receptor (TCR) (or forbidden T cell clones), as estimated by anti-V beta monoclonal antibodies in conjunction with immunofluorescence tests, appeared in the liver and, to some extent, in the periphery. The majority (greater than 80%) of forbidden clones induced had double-negative CD4-8-phenotype. In a syngeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction, these T cells appear to be self-reactive. Such forbidden clones and normal T cells in the liver showed a two-peak pattern of TCR expression, which consisted of alpha/beta TCR dull and bright positive cells, as seen in the thymus. A systematic analysis of TCR staining patterns in the various organs was then carried out. T cells from not only the thymus but also the liver had the two-peak pattern of alpha/beta TCR, whereas all of the other peripheral lymphoid organs had a single-peak pattern of TCR. However, T cells in the liver were not comprised of double-positive CD4+8+ cells, which predominantly reside in the thymus. The present results therefore suggest that T cell proliferation in the liver might reflect a major extrathymic pathway for T cell differentiation and that this hepatic pathway has the ability to produce T cells bearing self-reactive TCR under bacterial stimulation, probably due to the lack of a double-positive stage for negative selection.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Reduction of lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice by a bacterial superantigen treatment.

The effects of biweekly intravenous injections of Staphylococcus Enterotoxin B (SEB) into autoimmune MRL-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) mice were investigated. Rather than causing the expansion of V beta 8+ T cells, SEB administration resulted in the reduction V beta 8+, CD4-CD8- "double-negative" (DN) T cells. This was shown by FACS analysis as this putative pathogenic population was diminished in both spleen and lymph node. The symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in MRL/lpr, which include high titers of anti-DNA antibodies and circulating immune complexes and proteinuria, were reduced in SEB-treated mice in a dose-dependent manner. The clinical parameters of SLE in MRL/lpr, which include lymph node hyperplasia and necrotic vasculitis, were suppressed in 50-micrograms SEB-treated mice. T cells bearing V beta 6 T cell receptor, which does not interact with SEB, were not reduced with SEB administration. Thus, disease suppression was associated with a specific reduction in the number of V beta 8+, DN T cells. These results implicate a possible therapeutic role of superantigen-based immunotherapy in V beta-restricted, T cell-dominated clinical syndromes.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Immunoregulatory functions for murine intraepithelial lymphocytes: gamma/delta T cell receptor-positive (TCR+) T cells abrogate oral tolerance, while alpha/beta TCR+ T cells provide B cell help.

Past work has shown that a subset of effector T cells with unique characteristics could abrogate hapten- or antigen-induced tolerance, and the reconstitution of this immune response has been termed contrasuppression. We have studied contrasuppression in a model of oral tolerance (OT) in which adoptively transferred antigen-specific T contrasuppressor (Tcs) cells reverse OT and result in antibody responses to the eliciting antigen. In the present study, we show that murine intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) from mice orally immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) contain T cells that exhibit Tcs cell activity. This effect was mediated by CD3+ gamma/delta T cell receptor-positive (TCR+), but not alpha/beta TCR+ T cells, and gamma/delta TCR+ Tcs cells were associated with both the CD4-,CD8+ and CD4-,CD8- (double-negative) IEL fractions. The CD4-,CD8+ gamma/delta TCR+ IELs were further separated into Vicia villosa-adherent and -nonadherent fractions. Adoptive transfer of V. villosa-adherent gamma/delta TCR+ T cells to mice with OT to SRBC resulted in splenic IgA, IgM, and IgG subclass anti-SRBC responses, while V. villosa-nonadherent gamma/delta TCR+ T cells were without activity. The gamma/delta TCR+ IELs did not support in vitro antibody responses in B cell cultures, while alpha/beta TCR+ IELs were effective T helper cells. Further, cytokine production by the gamma/delta TCR+ IELs was examined, and the gamma/delta TCR+ V. villosa-adherent fraction, which possessed contrasuppressor function, contained low levels of IL-5 mRNA and small numbers of IL-5-producing cells when compared with alpha/beta TCR+ IELs and V. villosa-nonadherent gamma/delta TCR+ IELs. Our results now show that mouse IELs contain two distinct types of T cells that function in the immune response, e.g., alpha/beta TCR+ T cells that produce IL-5 and function as helper cells, and gamma/delta TCR+ T cells that restore antibody responses in mice that had been orally tolerized with antigen.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

In vivo and in vitro clonal deletion of double-positive thymocytes.

To study the processes of thymic development, we have established transgenic mice expressing and alpha/beta T cell antigen receptor (TCR) specific for cytochrome c associated with class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The transgenic TCR chains are expressed by most of the thymocytes in these mice, and these cells have been shown to efficiently mature in association with Ek- and Ab-encoded class II MHC molecules. This report describes a characterization of the negative selection of these transgenic thymocytes in vivo that is associated with the expression of As molecules. Negative selection by As molecules appears to result in the deletion of a late stage of CD4/CD8 double-positive thymocytes in that there is a virtual absence of transgenic TCR bearing CD4 single-positive thymocytes. This phenotype is accompanied by the appearance of CD4/CD8 double-negative thymocytes and peripheral T cells that are functionally antigen reactive. The process of negative selection has also been investigated using an in vitro culture system. Upon presentation of cytochrome c by Eb-expressing nonthymic antigen-presenting cells, there occurs an antigen dose-dependent deletion of the majority of CD4/CD8 double-positive thymocytes. In contrast, presentation of Staphylococcal enterotoxin A by Eb in vitro results in minimal deletion of double-positive thymocytes. In addition, we use this in vitro model to examine the effects of cyclosporin A on negative selection. In contrast to its effects on mature T cells, and the findings of others in vivo, cyclosporin A does not inhibit antigen-induced deletion of double-positive thymocytes. Finally, a comparison of the antigen dose responses for thymocyte deletion and for peripheral T cell activation indicates that double-positive thymocyte recognition is more sensitive than mature T cells to antigen recognition.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Distinctive selection mechanisms govern the T cell receptor repertoire of peripheral CD4-CD8- alpha/beta T cells.

The T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of CD4+ and CD8+ alpha/beta T cells is heavily influenced by positive and negative selection events that occur during T cell development in the thymus. The coreceptors CD4 and CD8 appear to be essential for this selection to occur. To gain insight into whether T cells that express TCR alpha/beta but lack either coreceptor (CD4- CD8- TCR alpha/beta or alpha/beta double-negative [DN] cells) are also subject to positive and negative selection, and whether selection can occur in the absence of coreceptors, we have performed an extensive immunogenetic analysis of the TCR V beta repertoire of alpha/beta DN cells in lymph nodes of normal mice. Our results show that alpha/beta DN cells appear to be unaffected by clonal deletion of V beta 5 and V beta 11 in I-E-expressing mice, and do not undergo deletion of V beta 6- and V beta 8.1-expressing T cells in Mls-1a-positive mice. They are also unaffected by positive selection of V beta 17a+ T cells in the context of I-Aq. The results suggest that most selection events require the participation of CD4 and CD8, while alpha/beta DN cells are unselected. This argues that most alpha/beta DN cells probably have never expressed CD4 or CD8. However, a unique form of repertoire selection occurs: enrichment of V beta 17a+ alpha/beta DN cells in I-E+ mice. This could be an instance of coreceptor-independent selection.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Interplay between IL-2 and IL-4 in human thymocyte differentiation: antagonism or agonism.

The effect of recombinant interleukin 2 (IL-2) and IL-4, as well as a combination of both lymphokines on human post-natal thymocytes at different maturation stages, was analyzed by culturing highly purified pro-T cells, pre-T cells, double-negative and double-positive thymocyte subsets in the presence of IL-2 and/or IL-4. Both IL-2 and IL-4 responsiveness are developmentally regulated in human thymocytes, since IL-2 and IL-4 responses decline with increasing thymocyte differentiation, double-positive T cells displaying far less proliferation than immature thymocytes. IL-2 and IL-4 may influence pro-T cell growth in both an antagonistic and additive fashion. At low doses, IL-4 inhibits IL-2-supported growth of pro-T cells, whereas, at higher concentrations, this inhibitory effect is masked by the ability of IL-4 to stimulate pro-T cell proliferation. In contrast to peripheral lymphocytes, IL-4 does not down-regulate the expression of the IL-2 receptor light chain on thymocytes. In pro-T cell cultures, IL-2 and IL-4 favour the differentiation of distinct cell populations, namely lymphocytes displaying preferentially a TCR alpha/beta+ and CD4+CD8- phenotype versus predominantly TCR gamma/delta+ and CD4-CD8+ cells, respectively. The effect of IL-2 dominates over that of IL-4, since the composition of cultures set up in the presence of IL-2 plus IL-4 resembles that of cells cultured with IL-2 alone. In synthesis, IL-2 and IL-4 exhibit reciprocal inter-relations in human thymocyte cultures, thus supporting the notion that these lymphokines are implicated in the complex regulation of a local cytokine network.

Antigens, CD↗

PubMed1992

Monoclonal antibodies specific for canine CD4 and CD8 define functional T-lymphocyte subsets and high-density expression of CD4 by canine neutrophils.

The characteristics of canine homologues of CD4 and CD8, defined by murine monoclonal antibodies CA13.1E4 (IgG1) and CA9.JD3 (IgG2a) respectively, are described. These antibodies identify mutually exclusive subpopulations of non-B lymphocytes in peripheral lymphoid organs and blood. However, in thymus the antibodies defined populations of double-positive, double-negative and single-positive cells that showed a progressive maturation consistent with that described for CD4 and CD8 in other mammalian species. Furthermore, functional studies clearly associated cytotoxic effector cell function with the subpopulation reactive with CA9.JD3 (CD8). In contrast, proliferation stimulated by allogeneic cells and mitogens was more pronounced in the subpopulation reactive with CA13.1E4 (CD4). Cell and tissue distribution studies revealed that CA13.1E4 stained neutrophils with equivalent intensity to the staining of peripheral T cells. CA13.1E4 precipitated a 60 kD protein from the surface of T cells and highly purified neutrophils under both reducing and nonreducing conditions. CA9.JD3 precipitated a heterodimer of 32 kd and 36 kD under reducing conditions, and a 70 kD protein under non-reducing conditions. The expression of CD4 by canine neutrophils is without precedent in other mammalian species; the functional significance of neutrophil CD4 expression is puzzling in light of the current understanding of the functions of CD4 which include it's role as a receptor for nonpolymorphic regions of MHC class II molecules.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Phenotypes of murine leukemia virus-induced tumors: influence of 3' viral coding sequences.

Murine leukemia viruses (MuLVs) induce leukemias and lymphomas in mice. We have used fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis to determine the hematopoietic phenotypes of tumor cells induced by a number of MuLVs. Tumor cells induced by ecotropic Moloney, amphotropic 4070A, and 10A1 MuLVs and by two chimeric MuLVs, Mo(4070A) and Mo(10A1), were examined with antibodies to 13 lineage-specific cell surface markers found on myeloid cell, T-cell, and B-cell lineages. The chimeric Mo(4070A) and Mo(10A1) MuLVs, consisting of Moloney MuLV with the carboxy half of the Pol region and nearly all of the Env region of 4070A and 10A1, respectively, were constructed to examine the possible influence of these sequences on Moloney MuLV-induced tumor cell phenotypes. In some instances, these phenotypic analyses were supplemented by Southern blot analysis for lymphoid cell-specific genomic DNA rearrangements at the immunoglobulin heavy-chain, the T-cell receptor gamma, and the T-cell receptor beta loci. The results of our analysis showed that Moloney MuLV, 4070A, Mo(4070A), and Mo(10A1) induced mostly T-cell tumors. Moloney MuLV and Mo(4070A) induced a wide variety of T-cell phenotypes, ranging from immature to mature phenotypes, while 4070A induced mostly prothymocyte and double-negative (CD4- CD8-) T-cell tumors. The tumor phenotypes obtained with 10A1 and Mo(10A1) were each less variable than those obtained with the other MuLVs tested. 10A1 uniformly induced a tumor consisting of lineage marker-negative cells that lack lymphoid cell-specific DNA rearrangements and histologically appear to be early undifferentiated erythroid cell-like precursors. The Mo(10A1) chimera consistently induced an intermediate T-cell tumor. The chimeric constructions demonstrated that while 4070A 3' pol and env sequences apparently did not influence the observed tumor cell phenotypes, the 10A1 half of pol and env had a strong effect on the phenotypes induced by Mo(10A1) that resulted in a phenotypic consistency not seen with other viruses. This result implicates 10A1 env in an active role in the tumorigenic process.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Thymic overexpression of Ttg-1 in transgenic mice results in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma.

T-cell translocation gene 1 (Ttg-1), also called rhombotin, is deregulated upon translocation into the alpha/delta T-cell receptor loci in acute lymphoblastic leukemias bearing the t(11;14)(p15;q11). Ttg-1 encodes a nuclear protein, expressed predominantly in neuronal cells, which belongs to a novel family of transcription factors possessing LIM domains. We utilized the lck proximal promoter to overexpress this candidate oncogene in immature thymocytes of transgenic mice. lckPr Ttg-1 mice develop immature, aggressive T-cell leukemia/lymphomas. Tumor incidence is proportional to the level of Ttg-1 expression. Most tumors contain CD4+8+ cells as well as CD4-8+ cells, which have an immature rather than a mature peripheral phenotype. Ttg-1-induced tumorigenesis preferentially affects a minority population of thymocytes representing an immature CD4-8+ intermediate stage between double-negative CD4-8- cells and double-positive CD4+8+ cells. This model indicates that the aberrant expression of putative transcription factors plays a primary role in the genesis of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

V beta gene family usage in spontaneous lymphomas of AKR mice: evidence for defective clonal deletion.

T-cell receptor (TCR) beta-chain usage and expression of the CD3, CD4, and CD8 differentiation antigens were analyzed in 14 spontaneous AKR lymphomas. Lymphoma cells massively infiltrated and/or proliferated in the organs analyzed (thymus, spleen, and mesenteric lymph nodes), giving rise to a loss of organ structure. One lymphoma occurred only in the thymus, and failed to express CD3, CD4, and CD8. All other lymphomas expressed the CD3/TCR complex. With respect to CD4 and CD8 expression, the lymphomas were either double-negative (DN), double-positive (DP), or single-positive (SP). The frequency of DP (CD4+8+) lymphomas was low compared to the frequency of DP thymocytes in a normal AKR thymus. A substantial heterogeneity was seen in the intensity of CD4 and CD8 expression among various lymphomas, which was independent of the level of CD3 expression. Considering TCR V beta gene family usage, 2 out of 14 lymphomas expressed V beta 6. Normally, V beta 6+ thymocytes are deleted from the thymocyte pool at the immature DP stage of T-cell development in AKR mice. These data support the hypothesis that the lymphocytes in the immature DP stage of T-cell development are susceptible to the induction of AKR lymphomagenesis. The presence of V beta 6+ lymphoma cells indicates that the lymphomagenesis is accompanied by a defective clonal deletion of cells expressing a possible autoreactive TCR.

Animals↗