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Updated: Apr 14, 2026

Mouse Naïve CD4+ T Cell Isolation and In vitro Differentiation into T Cell Subsets
Published on: April 16, 2015
CD4(+) CD44(v.low) cells are unique peripheral precursors that are distinct from recent thymic emigrants and stem
Chunfang Zhao1, Idania Marrero1, Aditi Narsale1
1Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, CA 92121, U.S.A.
Abstract:
CD4(+) CD44(v.low) cells are peripheral precursor T cells that inhibit lymphopenia by generating a large CD4(+) T cell pool containing balanced numbers of naïve, memory, and regulatory Foxp3(+) cells with a diverse TCR repertoire. Recent thymic emigrants (RTE) and stem cell-like memory T cells (T(SCM)) can also replenish a T cell pool. In this study we formally test whether CD44(v.low) cells are the same population as RTE and T(SCM). Our data show that, in contrast to RTE, CD44(v.low) cells express high levels of CD45RB and low levels of CD24. Moreover, CD44(v.low) cells isolated from mice devoid of RTE retain their capacity to repopulate lymphopenic mice with naïve and memory cells and Foxp3(+) Tregs. In addition, CD44(v.low) cells do not express IL-2Rβ, Sca-1, and CXCR3, the phenotypic hallmarks of T(SCM). Overall, these data demonstrate that CD44(v.low) cells are neither RTE nor T(SCM).
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