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  • Title: Immature thymocyte antigen-1: a novel thymocyte marker discriminating pre- and post-selected thymocytes.
    Author: Kishi H, Tong JJ, Nagata T, Muraguchi A.
    Journal: Int Immunol; 1998 Jul; 10(7):951-60. PubMed ID: 9701033.
    Abstract:
    Previously, we described a mAb (1-23) reacting with a novel cell surface antigen expressed on thymocytes at late CD4-CD8- [(double negative (DN)] to early CD4+CD8+ [(double positive (DP)] differentiation stage. Since the expression of this molecule was restricted to immature thymocytes, we designated it as immature thymocyte antigen-1 (IMT-1). In this study, we have investigated the relevance of IMT-1 expression to thymocyte selection using TCR transgenic mice, scid mice or RAG-2-/- mice. The IMT-1+ population in DP thymocytes was decreased in the thymuses of MHC class I-restricted or class II-restricted TCR transgenic mice with a positively selecting MHC background when compared with that of the mice with a non-selecting MHC background. IMT-1+ DP thymocytes were also decreased in TCR transgenic mice in which negative selection occurs. When DP thymocytes in H-Y TCR transgenic mice were stimulated with CD3epsilon mAb in vitro as well as in vivo, the expression of IMT-1 on DP thymocytes was decreased. Furthermore, the expression of IMT-1 on DN thymocytes from RAG-2-/- mice was drastically reduced when CD3epsilon mAb was challenged in vivo. These results suggest that the expression of IMT-1 on DP or DN thymocytes is down-regulated by stimulation through TCR as well as pre-TCR. Taken together, these results show that IMT-1 is a unique surface marker which exquisitely separates pre-selected thymocytes from post-selected thymocytes.
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