Expression of Fas mRNA by liver MNC, consisting of extrathymic T cells, in mice

KAZUO OHTSUKA, SEIICHI KOBAYASHI, MANABU HAGA, TAKEHIRO WATANABE, KATSUHIRO TOMIYAMA, HISAMI WATANABE, TORU ABO
1994 Biomedical research  
Fas antigen is known to be intimately associated with intrathymic T-cell differentiation through its apoptotic function, especially the elimination of self-reactive forbidden clones in a negative selection process. In addition to the intrathymic pathway of T-cell differentiation, an extrathymic pathway of T-cell differentiation was recently demonstrated to occur in the liver. To determine whether the Fas antigen is responsible for extrathymic differentiation, we examined herein the expression
more » ... vel of Fas mRNA by liver mononuclear cells (MNC) in mice of various strains in comparison with those by thymocytes and splenocytes. Fas mRNA was detected by a method of reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. In control B6 mice, liver MNC, but not splenocytes, highly expressed Fas mRNA at a level comparable to that by thymocytes. On the other hand, in B6 athymic nude mice, both liver MNC and splenocytes expressed a high level of Fas mRNA. In the case of MRL-{pr/lpr (lpr) mice, defective Fas mRNA (i.e., {pr gene) was highly expressed in the liver MNC, while normal Fas mRNA was expressed only slightly. At this amplification level, both defective Fas mRNA and normal Fas mRNA were almost at undetectable levels in the thymus and spleen of {pr mice. These results revealed that liver MNC, comprising extrathymic T cells, highly expressed Fas mRNA, irrespective of the strains tested.
doi:10.2220/biomedres.15.281 fatcat:p6c7xqdfmjhhbaypmpd6r4vgte