Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Jun;53(6):563-71.
doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3083.2001.00897.x.

Recent thymic emigrants (CD4+) continuously migrate through lymphoid organs: within the tissue they alter surface molecule expression

B Luettig  1 , A Sponholz, C Heerwagen, U Bode, J Westermann
Affiliations
Free article

Recent thymic emigrants (CD4+) continuously migrate through lymphoid organs: within the tissue they alter surface molecule expression

B Luettig et al. Scand J Immunol. 2001 Jun.
Free article

Abstract

T-cell progenitors migrate from bone marrow (BM) into the thymus. After maturation they are released as recent thymic emigrants (RTE) into the periphery ensuring the diversification of the T-cell repertoire. Both the kinetics with which RTE migrate through the periphery and the surface molecules they express are still unclear. In 1- and 18-month-old Lewis rats CD4+ RTE were identified in blood, spleen, lymph node, and thoracic duct lymph by flow cytometry (CD45RC- and CD90+), were differentiated from CD4+ naive (CD45RC+) and memory T cells (CD45RC-CD90-), and were characterized regarding the expression of surface molecules. Both in 1- and 18-month-old animals the percentage of RTE among the CD4+ population in blood was comparable to that in all other compartments. Surprisingly, RTE expressed alpha4-integrin, LFA-1, and interleukin (IL)-2 receptor at a significantly higher level than naive T cells and more comparable to memory T cells. Within lymphoid tissues RTE, naive, and memory T cells significantly upregulated the expression of CD44 and ICAM-1, and downregulated the expression of L-selectin. These changes were reversed before the cells re-entered the blood. Thus, our data indicate that CD4+ RTE travel through the periphery of young and old rats like mature T cells, continuously modulating their surface molecule expression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources