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Two natural killer cell populations which belong to T cell lineage in nude mice

1986; Wiley; Volume: 16; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/eji.1830161123

1521-4141

Sonoko Habu, Kazuo Shimamura, Norikazu Tamaoki, Yoshihiro Kumagai, Ko Okumura,

Immune Cell Function and Interaction

Abstract Enriched natural killer (NK) cell populations from BALB/c nude mice obtained by using nylon wool column (NWC) separation were stained with anti‐Thy‐1 and anti‐asialo G M1 (GA1), and then were fractioned by flow cytometry into 4 cell populations: Thy‐1 + GA1 + cells, Thy‐1 + GA1 − cells, Thy‐1 − GA1 + cells and Thy‐1 − GA1 − cells. These cell populations were sorted out by flow cytometry and were examined for NK activity. Of the sorted cells, high NK activity was found in the two populations, Thy‐1 + GA1 + cells and Thy‐1 − GA1 + cells. In the other populations expressing Thy‐1 antigen alone or expressing neither G M1 nor Thy‐1, NK activity was almost undetectable. The two cell populations with NK activity were lineaged with respect to rearrangement of the T cell receptor genes. Southern gel analysis using a cDNA probe containing the D β 1, Jβ1.3 and Cβ1 genes of the T cell receptor showed a reduction of the germ‐line band of DNA in the 3 fractionated populations other than Thy‐1 − GA1 − cells. Since these observations were demonstrated in nude spleen cells, it is indicated that the cells with NK activity belong to T cell lineage even if they lack Thy‐1 expression and that they may develop out of the thymus, if they express Thy‐1 antigen.