Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1988 Mar 1;140(5):1435-41.

Loss of CD45R (Lp220) represents a post-thymic T cell differentiation event

Affiliations
  • PMID: 2964476

Loss of CD45R (Lp220) represents a post-thymic T cell differentiation event

H M Serra et al. J Immunol. .

Abstract

CD45R+ and CDw29+ CD4+ T cells are widely regarded as separate functionally defined T cell lineages. The work described here indicates that they represent maturation stages within the same differentiation pathway. Purified populations of CD4+ or CD8+ T cells, after stimulation with PHA, lose cell surface expression of CD45R (Lp220) and gain an increased surface density of CDw29 (4B4). Clonal analysis demonstrated that individual CD4+ CD45R+ T cells lost CD45R and acquired CDw29 with time in culture. This effect was selective for the high Mr 220-kDa form of the T200 (CD45) complex because the density of CD45, detected by an antibody to common determinants, did not decrease. This strongly indicates that CD45R+ cells are an immature stage in a lineage that culminates in CDw29 expression. To further define the expression of CD45R and CDw29, we analyzed infant thymus cells. Thymocytes include only 4 to 6% CD45R+ cells, but 95% express CDw29 in moderate density. The CD45R+ set appears to include mainly single CD4+ or CD8+, CD3 "bright" medullary cells, although only 15 to 25% of thymocytes with medullary phenotype express CD45R. In vitro culture of thymocytes with Con A and T cell growth factor induces expression of CD45R but these cells differ from the peripheral CD45R+ set by virtue of their co-expression of a high density of CDw29 (4B4) Ag. We postulate that post-thymically CD45R (Lp200) and CDw29 (4B4) comprise a functional assembly on the surface of T cells that changes in composition after stimulation with Ag or mitogen. This may result in enhanced ability of an Ag-experienced T cell to respond effectively to Ag due perhaps to a more efficient signaling complex.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources