International Immunology, Vol 10, 1623-1635, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
H Wang, RA Diamond, JA Yang-Snyder and EV Rothenberg
The genes encoding effector molecules of mature T cells, IL-2, perforin and
IL-4, were found to be expressed in vivo in the most primitive subsets of
thymocytes of adult mice. These subsets have previously been identified by
their cell surface markers and by their expression of other T
lineage-associated genes. While IL-2, perforin and IL-4 are expressed in
distinct patterns, all three are expressed before the induction of RAG-1
and pre-TCR alpha mRNA expression, and are confined to subsets of cells
that apparently have not yet undergone commitment to the T lineage. Thus,
expression of T cell response genes appears to be one of the earliest
markers of lymphocyte differentiation. Activation events marked by CD69
induction occur in these early cell types, but the response gene expression
by these cells is separable from CD69 expression. IL-2 and perforin are
induced again much later in thymocyte development, during TCR-dependent
repertoire selection. At those stages, IL-2 protein and RNA levels per cell
are higher, but the fraction of cells expressing IL-2 appears to be much
lower than in the most immature stages. In addition, a striking feature of
the immature populations is the robust IL-2 expression by presumptive
immature NK cells. These findings are discussed in terms of the
developmental origins of lineage specificity in T cell response gene
regulation.
ARTICLES
Precocious expression of T cell functional response genes in vivo in primitive thymocytes before T lineage commitment
Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA.
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