Figure 4.
Human monocytes express CD8α mRNA. Right, purification of monocytes (>99% CD14hi after sorting) was also confirmed by attempting to detect the T and NK cell transcript, CD3ζ, in monocytes. A 293 bp fragment of CD3ζ mRNA was detected in PBMC, containing T cells, but not monocytes, the monocytic line THP-1, or lung epithelial cells (A549) after 50 cycles. B, A 379 bp CD8α mRNA fragment was detected by RT-PCR in THP-1, >99% CD14hi monocytes, PBMC, but not in a lung epithelial cell line, (A549) using intron-spanning primers, and 35 cycles of cDNA amplification. Detection of β-actin mRNA confirmed RNA extraction and RT-PCR was performed successfully.