An Increased γδ T Cell Population in the Intestine of Thymus-Leukemia Antigen Transgenic Mice

In an approach to study thymic leukemia antigenʹs (TLʹs) function, we have developed transgenic mice that express T18don virtually all somatic cells; in such mice, we initially observed changes in T cells within the thymus and lymph nodes as well as the ability of TL to undergo recognition by splenic T cells. As phase II of our study, we now present the results on the composition of gut T cell populations which may be a better measure of TLʹs true function. We have demonstrated an increase in the number of γδ+T cells as well as the increase in γδ+T cells expressing the Vγ2 chain. These cells appear to be both CD4 and CD8 negative. This suggests that TL may select for a subset of γδ T cells within the gut and bolsters earlier reports implicating anH-2Tregional gene product as the major histocompatibility complex ligand for γδ+T cells.