PMID: 6991706Jan 1, 1980Paper

Lymphocyte subpopulations in the thymus of SJL/J mice: age-related alterations and the effect of spontaneous reticulum cell sarcoma development

Journal of Clinical & Laboratory Immunology
F Dumont

Abstract

The cellular composition of the thymus was investigated as a function of age in the immunologically aberrant SJL/J mouse strain. Lymphocyte subpopulations were identified by combined analysis of cell electrophoretic mobility (EPM) and cell electronic volume and by assessment of surface receptor for Peanut-agglutinin (PNA) and of surface immunoglobulin (slg) determinants. In the thymus from young adult animals two major types of thymocytes could thus be recognized. The first one (th1, 2, 3) representing about 75% of the thymocyte population was endowed with a low-EPM and exhibited PNA-receptors. The other one (th4) possessed a high-EPM and lacked PNA-receptors. During ageing of mice selected for the absence of macroscopically detectable Reticulum Cell Sarcoma (RCS) lesions, the frequency of th1, 2, 3 cells diminished whereas that of th4 cells increased (up to 75% at the age of 16 months). This latter augmentation reflected a true expansion of the th4 cell subpopulation and acounted for the maintenance of thymus cellularity to a relatively high level throughout life. In accordance with the probable immunocompetence of th4 cells, thymus cell suspensions from old RCS-free SJL/J mice were found to exhibit high proliferative response...Continue Reading

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