Dynamics of Recent Thymic Emigrants in Young Adult Mice
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The peripheral naive T-cell pool is generally thought to consist of a subpopulation of
recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) and a subpopulation of mature naive (MN) T cells with
different dynamics. Thymus transplantation and adoptive transfer studies in mice have
provided contradicting results, with some studies suggesting that RTEs are relatively
short-lived cells, while another study suggested that RTEs have a survival advantage.
We here estimate the death rates of RTE and MN T cells by performing both thymus
transplantations and deuterium labeling experiments in mice of at least 12 weeks old, an
age at which the size of the T-cell pool has stabilized. For CD4+ T cells, we found the total
loss rate from the RTE compartment (by death and maturation) to be fourfold faster than
that of MN T cells. We estimate the death rate of CD4+ RTE to be 0.046 per day, which
is threefold faster than the total loss rate from the MN T-cell compartment. For CD8+
T cells, we found no evidence for kinetic differences between RTE and MN T cells. Thus,
our data support the notion that in young adult mice, CD4+ RTE are relatively short-lived
cells within the naive CD4+ T-cell pool.
recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) and a subpopulation of mature naive (MN) T cells with
different dynamics. Thymus transplantation and adoptive transfer studies in mice have
provided contradicting results, with some studies suggesting that RTEs are relatively
short-lived cells, while another study suggested that RTEs have a survival advantage.
We here estimate the death rates of RTE and MN T cells by performing both thymus
transplantations and deuterium labeling experiments in mice of at least 12 weeks old, an
age at which the size of the T-cell pool has stabilized. For CD4+ T cells, we found the total
loss rate from the RTE compartment (by death and maturation) to be fourfold faster than
that of MN T cells. We estimate the death rate of CD4+ RTE to be 0.046 per day, which
is threefold faster than the total loss rate from the MN T-cell compartment. For CD8+
T cells, we found no evidence for kinetic differences between RTE and MN T cells. Thus,
our data support the notion that in young adult mice, CD4+ RTE are relatively short-lived
cells within the naive CD4+ T-cell pool.
Date Issued
2017-08-07
Date Acceptance
2017-07-21
Citation
Frontiers in Immunology, 2017, 8
ISSN
1664-3224
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Immunology
Volume
8
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2017 van Hoeven, Drylewicz, Westera, den Braber, Mugwagwa,
Tesselaar, Borghans and de Boer. This is an open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or
reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor
are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with
accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which
does not comply with these terms.
Tesselaar, Borghans and de Boer. This is an open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or
reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor
are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with
accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which
does not comply with these terms.
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Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Immunology
recent thymic
life span regulation
modeling and simulations
labeling
T cells subpopulations
T-CELL HOMEOSTASIS
LIFE-SPAN
FUNCTIONAL DEFECTS
NAIVE
MATURATION
MAINTENANCE
POOL
PROLIFERATION
OUTPUT
LYMPHOCYTES
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
933