Natural killer cells in the thymus. Studies in mice with severe combined immune deficiency.
- 1 February 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by The American Association of Immunologists in The Journal of Immunology
- Vol. 144 (3), 796-803
- https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.144.3.796
Abstract
The relationship between NK cell and T cell progenitors was investigated by using mice with severe combined immune deficiency (scid). Scid mice are devoid of mature T and B cells because they cannot rearrange their Ig and TCR genes. However, they have normal splenic NK cells. Thymus of scid mice, although markedly hypocellular, contains cells that lyse YAC-1, an NK-sensitive tumor cell. By flow cytometry, two populations of cells were identified in the scid thymus. Eighty percent of the cells were Thy-1+, IL-2R(7D4)+, J11d+, CD3-, CD4-, CD8- whereas the remaining were IL-2R-, J11d-, CD3-, CD4-, and CD8-. By cell sorting, all NK activity was found in the latter population, which is phenotypically similar to splenic NK cells. To determine if the thymus contains a bipotential NK/T progenitor cell, J11d+, IL-2R+ cells were cultured and analyzed for the generation of NK cells in vitro. These cells were used because they resemble 15-day fetal and adult CD4- CD8- thymocytes that are capable of giving rise to mature T cells. Cultured J11d+ thymocytes acquired non-MHC-restricted cytotoxicity, but in contrast to mature NK cells, the resulting cells contained mRNA for the gamma, delta, and epsilon-chains of CD3. This suggests that J11d+ cells are early T cells that can acquire the ability to kill in a non-MHC-restricted manner, but which do not give rise to NK cells in vitro. The differentiative potential of scid thymocytes was also tested in vivo. Unlike bone marrow cells, scid thymocytes containing 80% J11d+ cells failed to give rise to NK cells when transferred into irradiated recipients. Together these results suggest that mature NK cells reside in the thymus of scid mice but are not derived from a common NK/T progenitor.This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Origin and differentiation of natural killer cells. II. Functional and morphologic studies of purified NK-1.1+ cells.The Journal of Immunology, 1986
- Early T lymphocytes. Differentiation in vivo of adult intrathymic precursor cells.The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1985
- Analysis of T-Cell Receptor Gene Rearrangement and Expression in Human Natural Killer ClonesScience, 1985
- Origin and differentiation of natural killer cells. I. Characteristics of a transplantable NK cell precursor.The Journal of Immunology, 1985
- Evidence that the Pgp-1 glycoprotein is expressed on thymus-homing progenitor cells of the thymusCellular Immunology, 1985
- Co-existence of vinculin and a vinculin-like protein of higher molecular weight in smooth muscle.Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1982
- A monoclonal antibody discriminating between subsets of T and B cells.The Journal of Immunology, 1981
- Interleukin-2 augments natural killer cell activityNature, 1981
- A glycolipid on the surface of mouse natural killer cellsEuropean Journal of Immunology, 1980
- Anti-viral activity induced by culturing lymphocytes with tumor-derived or virus-transformed cells. Enhancement of human natural killer cell activity by interferon and antagonistic inhibition of susceptibility of target cells to lysis.The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1978