TY - JOUR
T1 - Direct evidence for thymic function in adult humans
AU - Poulin, Jean François
AU - Viswanathan, Mohan N.
AU - Harris, Jeffrey M.
AU - Komanduri, Krishna V.
AU - Wieder, Eric
AU - Ringuette, Nancy
AU - Jenkins, Morgan
AU - McCune, Joseph M.
AU - Sékaly, Rafick Pierre
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2007 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1999/8/16
Y1 - 1999/8/16
N2 - The understanding of human thymic function and evaluation of its contribution to T cell homeostasis are matters of great importance. Here we report the development of a novel assay to quantitate the frequency and diversity of recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) in the peripheral blood of humans. Such cells were defined by the presence of T cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement deletion circles (DCs), episomal byproducts of TCR-β V(D)J rearrangement. DCs were detected in T cells in the thymus, cord blood, and adult peripheral blood. In the peripheral blood of adults aged 22 to 76 years, their frequency was highest in the CD4+CD45RA+ CD62L+ subpopulation of naive T cells. TCR DCs were also observed in other subpopulations of peripheral blood T cells, including those with the CD4+CD45RO-CD62L+ and CD4+CD45RO+CD62L+ phenotypes. RTEs were observed to have more than one Vβ rearrangement, suggesting that replenishment of the repertoire in the adult is at least oligoclonal. These results demonstrate that the normal adult thymus continues to contribute, even in older individuals, a diverse set of new T cells to the peripheral circulation.
AB - The understanding of human thymic function and evaluation of its contribution to T cell homeostasis are matters of great importance. Here we report the development of a novel assay to quantitate the frequency and diversity of recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) in the peripheral blood of humans. Such cells were defined by the presence of T cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement deletion circles (DCs), episomal byproducts of TCR-β V(D)J rearrangement. DCs were detected in T cells in the thymus, cord blood, and adult peripheral blood. In the peripheral blood of adults aged 22 to 76 years, their frequency was highest in the CD4+CD45RA+ CD62L+ subpopulation of naive T cells. TCR DCs were also observed in other subpopulations of peripheral blood T cells, including those with the CD4+CD45RO-CD62L+ and CD4+CD45RO+CD62L+ phenotypes. RTEs were observed to have more than one Vβ rearrangement, suggesting that replenishment of the repertoire in the adult is at least oligoclonal. These results demonstrate that the normal adult thymus continues to contribute, even in older individuals, a diverse set of new T cells to the peripheral circulation.
KW - Deletion circles
KW - Immune reconstitution
KW - Naive T cells
KW - T cell receptor
KW - Thymus
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U2 - 10.1084/jem.190.4.479
DO - 10.1084/jem.190.4.479
M3 - Article
C2 - 10449519
AN - SCOPUS:0033575774
VL - 190
SP - 479
EP - 486
JO - Journal of Experimental Medicine
JF - Journal of Experimental Medicine
SN - 0022-1007
IS - 4
ER -