Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1993 Apr 1;177(4):891–896. doi: 10.1084/jem.177.4.891

The life span of naive alpha/beta T cells in secondary lymphoid organs

PMCID: PMC2190982  PMID: 8459219

Abstract

We have determined the life span of naive CD4-8+ T cells in T cell receptor transgenic mice. We find that such cells do not divide in secondary lymphoid organs in both normal euthymic mice and T cell- deficient mice. By both continuous labeling and by chasing pulse- labeled cells, we find that the minimum life span of the naive T cells is in the order of 8 wk.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (502.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bell E. B., Sparshott S. M. Interconversion of CD45R subsets of CD4 T cells in vivo. Nature. 1990 Nov 8;348(6297):163–166. doi: 10.1038/348163a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beverley P. C. Human T-cell memory. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1990;159:111–122. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-75244-5_7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bottomly K., Luqman M., Greenbaum L., Carding S., West J., Pasqualini T., Murphy D. B. A monoclonal antibody to murine CD45R distinguishes CD4 T cell populations that produce different cytokines. Eur J Immunol. 1989 Apr;19(4):617–623. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830190407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Budd R. C., Cerottini J. C., Horvath C., Bron C., Pedrazzini T., Howe R. C., MacDonald H. R. Distinction of virgin and memory T lymphocytes. Stable acquisition of the Pgp-1 glycoprotein concomitant with antigenic stimulation. J Immunol. 1987 May 15;138(10):3120–3129. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cerottini J. C., MacDonald H. R. The cellular basis of T-cell memory. Annu Rev Immunol. 1989;7:77–89. doi: 10.1146/annurev.iy.07.040189.000453. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Freitas A. A., Rocha B., Coutinho A. A. Lymphocyte population kinetics in the mouse. Immunol Rev. 1986 Jun;91:5–37. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1986.tb01482.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Förster I., Rajewsky K. The bulk of the peripheral B-cell pool in mice is stable and not rapidly renewed from the bone marrow. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jun;87(12):4781–4784. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.12.4781. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Huesmann M., Scott B., Kisielow P., von Boehmer H. Kinetics and efficacy of positive selection in the thymus of normal and T cell receptor transgenic mice. Cell. 1991 Aug 9;66(3):533–540. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90016-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kisielow P., Blüthmann H., Staerz U. D., Steinmetz M., von Boehmer H. Tolerance in T-cell-receptor transgenic mice involves deletion of nonmature CD4+8+ thymocytes. Nature. 1988 Jun 23;333(6175):742–746. doi: 10.1038/333742a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lee W. T., Vitetta E. S. Limiting dilution analysis of CD45Rhi and CD45Rlo T cells: further evidence that CD45Rlo cells are memory cells. Cell Immunol. 1990 Oct 15;130(2):459–471. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(90)90287-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Michie C. A., McLean A., Alcock C., Beverley P. C. Lifespan of human lymphocyte subsets defined by CD45 isoforms. Nature. 1992 Nov 19;360(6401):264–265. doi: 10.1038/360264a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rocha B., Penit C., Baron C., Vasseur F., Dautigny N., Freitas A. A. Accumulation of bromodeoxyuridine-labeled cells in central and peripheral lymphoid organs: minimal estimates of production and turnover rates of mature lymphocytes. Eur J Immunol. 1990 Aug;20(8):1697–1708. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830200812. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rocha B., von Boehmer H. Peripheral selection of the T cell repertoire. Science. 1991 Mar 8;251(4998):1225–1228. doi: 10.1126/science.1900951. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rothstein D. M., Yamada A., Schlossman S. F., Morimoto C. Cyclic regulation of CD45 isoform expression in a long term human CD4+CD45RA+ T cell line. J Immunol. 1991 Feb 15;146(4):1175–1183. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sanders M. E., Makgoba M. W., Sharrow S. O., Stephany D., Springer T. A., Young H. A., Shaw S. Human memory T lymphocytes express increased levels of three cell adhesion molecules (LFA-3, CD2, and LFA-1) and three other molecules (UCHL1, CDw29, and Pgp-1) and have enhanced IFN-gamma production. J Immunol. 1988 Mar 1;140(5):1401–1407. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schittek B., Rajewsky K. Maintenance of B-cell memory by long-lived cells generated from proliferating precursors. Nature. 1990 Aug 23;346(6286):749–751. doi: 10.1038/346749a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sprent J., Basten A. Circulating T and B lymphocytes of the mouse. II. Lifespan. Cell Immunol. 1973 Apr;7(1):40–59. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(73)90181-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sprent J., Schaefer M., Hurd M., Surh C. D., Ron Y. Mature murine B and T cells transferred to SCID mice can survive indefinitely and many maintain a virgin phenotype. J Exp Med. 1991 Sep 1;174(3):717–728. doi: 10.1084/jem.174.3.717. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Swain S. L., Bradley L. M., Croft M., Tonkonogy S., Atkins G., Weinberg A. D., Duncan D. D., Hedrick S. M., Dutton R. W., Huston G. Helper T-cell subsets: phenotype, function and the role of lymphokines in regulating their development. Immunol Rev. 1991 Oct;123:115–144. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1991.tb00608.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tedder T. F., Cooper M. D., Clement L. T. Human lymphocyte differentiation antigens HB-10 and HB-11. II. Differential production of B cell growth and differentiation factors by distinct helper T cell subpopulations. J Immunol. 1985 May;134(5):2989–2994. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Teh H. S., Kisielow P., Scott B., Kishi H., Uematsu Y., Blüthmann H., von Boehmer H. Thymic major histocompatibility complex antigens and the alpha beta T-cell receptor determine the CD4/CD8 phenotype of T cells. Nature. 1988 Sep 15;335(6187):229–233. doi: 10.1038/335229a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Warren H. S., Skipsey L. J. Loss of activation-induced CD45RO with maintenance of CD45RA expression during prolonged culture of T cells and NK cells. Immunology. 1991 Sep;74(1):78–85. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. von Boehmer H., Kirberg J., Rocha B. An unusual lineage of alpha/beta T cells that contains autoreactive cells. J Exp Med. 1991 Nov 1;174(5):1001–1008. doi: 10.1084/jem.174.5.1001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES