The embryonic thymus is colonized by the influx of hemopoietic progenitors in waves. To characterize the T cell progeny of the initial colonization waves, we used intravenous adoptive transfer of bone marrow progenitors into congenic embryos. The experiments were performed in birds because intravenous cell infusions can be performed more efficiently in avian than in mammalian embryos. Progenitor cells, which entered the vascularized thymus via interlobular venules in the capsular region and capillaries located at the corticomedullary junction, homed to the outer cortex to begin thymocyte differentiation. The kinetics of differentiation and emigration of the T cell progeny were analyzed for the first three waves of progenitors. Each progenitor wave gave rise to γ/δ T cells 3 d earlier than α/β T cells. Although the flow of T cell migration from the thymus was uninterrupted, distinct colonization and differentiation kinetics defined three successive waves of γ/δ and α/β T cells that depart sequentially the thymus en route to the periphery. Each wave of precursors rearranged all three TCR Vγ gene families, but displayed a variable repertoire. The data indicate a complex pattern of repertoire diversification by the progeny of founder thymocyte progenitors.
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6 October 1997
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October 06 1997
Ontogeny of the Immune System: γ/δ and α/β T Cells Migrate from Thymus to the Periphery in Alternating Waves
D. Dunon,
D. Dunon
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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D. Courtois,
D. Courtois
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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O. Vainio,
O. Vainio
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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A. Six,
A. Six
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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C.H. Chen,
C.H. Chen
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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M.D. Cooper,
M.D. Cooper
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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J.P. Dangy,
J.P. Dangy
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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B.A. Imhof
B.A. Imhof
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
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D. Dunon
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
D. Courtois
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
O. Vainio
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
A. Six
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
C.H. Chen
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
M.D. Cooper
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
J.P. Dangy
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
B.A. Imhof
From the *Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unitè de Recherche Associée 1135, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France; ‡Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland; §Division of Developmental and Clinical Immunology, Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Microbiology, University of Alabama, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Birmingham, Alabama 35294; ‖Basel Institute for Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland
Address correspondence to Pr. D. Dunon, UPMC, CNRS URA 1135, Equipe Adhésion et Migration Cellulaires, Bâtiment C-30, Boîte 25, 7eme étage, 9, Quai Saint-Bernard, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France. Phone: 33-1-44-27-35-00; FAX: 33-1-44-27-34-97; E-mail: [email protected]. The present address of B.A. Imhof is Centre Medical Universitaire, Department of Pathology, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Received:
March 25 1997
Revision Received:
June 27 1997
Online ISSN: 1540-9538
Print ISSN: 0022-1007
1997
J Exp Med (1997) 186 (7): 977–988.
Article history
Received:
March 25 1997
Revision Received:
June 27 1997
Citation
D. Dunon, D. Courtois, O. Vainio, A. Six, C.H. Chen, M.D. Cooper, J.P. Dangy, B.A. Imhof; Ontogeny of the Immune System: γ/δ and α/β T Cells Migrate from Thymus to the Periphery in Alternating Waves . J Exp Med 6 October 1997; 186 (7): 977–988. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.186.7.977
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