Distribution of cycling T lymphocytes in blood and lymphoid organs during immune responses

Proliferation of murine T lymphocytes in blood, lymph nodes, and spleen was studied in four in vivo stimulation systems, using BrdU pulse-labeling of DNA-synthesizing cells. The T cell response to the superantigen Staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB) was studied in detail. Vbeta8+ T cells showed a peak of DNA synthesis 16-24 h after SEB injection, and the percentage of BrdU+ CD4 and CD8 T cells was higher in blood than in lymph nodes and spleen. DNA synthesis was preceded by massive migration of Vbeta8+ cells from blood to lymphoid organs, in which the early activation marker CD69 was first up-regulated. SEB-nonspecific Vbeta6+ cells showed minimal stimulation but, when cycling, also expressed a high level of CD69. The other systems studied were injection of the IFN-gamma inducer polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, infection by the BM5 variants of murine leukemia virus (the causative agent of murine AIDS), and T cell expansion after transfer of normal bone marrow and lymph node cells into recombinase-activating gene-2-deficient mice. In each case, a peak of T cell proliferation was observed in blood. These data demonstrate the extensive redistribution of cycling T cells in the first few hours after activation. Kinetic studies of blood lymphocyte status appear crucial for understanding primary immune responses because cycling and redistributing T lymphocytes are enriched in the circulating compartment.