A dominant role for the thymus and MHC genes in determining the peripheral CD4/CD8 T cell ratio in the rat. |
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| Authors: | J G Damoiseaux B Cautain I Bernard M Mas P J van Breda Vriesman P Druet G Fournié A Saoudi |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Internal Medicine, Section Immunology, University Maastricht, The Netherlands. jgmc.damoiseaux@immuno.unimaas.nl |
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| Abstract: | During their development, immature CD4CD8 double positive thymocytes become committed to either the CD4 or CD8 lineage. The final size of the peripheral CD4 and CD8 T cell compartments depends on thymic output and on the differential survival and proliferation of the respective T cell subsets in the periphery. Our results reveal that the development of the distinct peripheral CD4/CD8 T cell ratio between Lewis and Brown Norway rats originates in the thymus and, as shown by the use of radiation bone marrow chimeras, is determined by selection on radio-resistant stromal cells. Furthermore, this difference is strictly correlated with the MHC haplotype and is the result of a reduction in the absolute number of CD8 T cells in Brown Norway rats. These data suggest that the distinct CD4/CD8 T cell ratio between these two rat strains is the consequence of differential interactions of the TCR/CD8 coreceptor complex with the respective MHC class I haplotypes during selection in the thymus. |
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